THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


COLONIAL 

FURNITURE 
IN  AMERICA 


BLOCK-FRONT   HIGH    CHEST   OF    DRAWERS,   FIRST 

HALF    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY. 

(Handles    Missing.) 


COLONIAL 
FURNITUI^ 
IN  AMERICA 

BY 

LUKE  VINCENT  LOCKWOOD 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNEKS  SONS 

MDCCCCI 


M 


Copyright,  1901,  by 
Charlks  Scrii'.nkr's  Sons 


Pttblished  Dcci-mbcr,  iqoi 


College 
Library 


LS 


PREFACE 

THE  object  of  the  present  volume  is  to  furnish  the 
collector,  and  other  persons  interested  in  the  subject 
of  American  colonial  furniture,  with  a  trustworthy 
handbook  on  the  subject,  having  especially  in  mind  the 
natural  development  of  the  various  styles,  and  arranging 
them  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  any  one  at  a  glance  to 
determine  under  what  general  style  and  date  a  piece  of 
furniture  falls. 

The  sources  of  information  from  which  this  book  has 
been  derived  are:  examination  of  inventories  and  contem- 
porary records,  all  available  newspapers,  works  on  the  sub- 
jects of  furniture,  architecture,  and  interior  woodwork  by 
English,  French,  German,  Italian,  and  American  writers, 
general  and  commercial  histories,  books  on  manners  and 
customs,  ancient  dictionaries,  cabinet-makers'  books  of  design 
ancient  and  modern,  and  examination  of  specimens  of  furni- 
ture, both  colonial  and  foreign. 

The  last  of  these  sources  is  the  most  important,  and 
New  England  is  particularly  rich  in  examples  of  the  earliest 
as  well  as  the  later  furniture,  -while  t\\e  South  is  wofully 
lacking  in  any  pieces  prior  to  the  mahogany  period,  although 


c 


1157655 


PREFACE 

the  inventories  show  that  such  pieces  existed  more  abun- 
dantly there  even  than  in  the  North. 

New  England  jjossesses  many  fine  collections,  both  pub- 
lic and  private,  and  as  these  collections  contain  examples 
from  both  North  and  South,  we  have  in  many  cases  used 
them  in  illustrating  instead  of  taking  specimens  still  in 
the  South. 

In  the  last  few  years  many  pieces  of  the  seventeenth- 
century  furniture  have  come  to  light  which  fully  carry  out 
the  idea  of  development  insisted  on  in  this  volume,  but  often 
it  has  been  impossible  to  obtain  pictures  of  these  pieces,  the 
owners  fearing  the  reproducer. 

As  to  the  in\'entories,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  they 
are  misleading.  The  dates  will  always  be  late  for  a  style,  as 
there  is  no  way  of  telling  how  long  a  piece,  when  mentioned 
in  the  inventories,  had  been  in  the  possession  of  the  deceased 
before  the  inventory  was  taken,  and  we  believe  the  tendency 
has  heretofore  been  to  date  too  late  rather  than  too  early. 
A  fairly  safe  guide  to  follow  is  to  deduct  ten  years  from  the 
inventory  date.  Then  as  to  valuations.  The  inventory 
\aluations  arc,  of  course,  very  low,  usually  about  three  fifths 
to  one  half  of  the  true  \alue,  and  if  before  1710  account 
must  be  taken  of  the  fact  that  the  purchasing  power  of 
money  was  then  about  fi\e  times  \\ hat  it  is  at  present.  Thus 
if  a  chest  is  valued  at  ^1  in  an  inventory  of  1680,  its  true 
\alue  at  that  time  was  from  ^i  13s.  4d.  to  £^2,  and  the  sum 
corresponding  to  this  at  the  present  time  would  be  from 
^8  6s.  8d.  to  /lo. 

The  method  followed  in  dating  the  specimens  of  furni- 


PREFACE 

ture  here  shown  has  been  to  suggest  the  time  when  the 
style  represented  was  in  common  use,  and  no  attempt  has 
been  made  to  place  the  date  of  any  specimen  exactly,  for  only 
under  special  circumstances  could  that  be  done. 

The  writer  wishes  to  express  his  thanks  to  the  various 
collectors  and  persons  having  family  pieces,  for  their  universal 
kindness  in  allowing  him  to  examine  and  photograph  their 
furniture,  and  for  the  interest  they  have  taken  in  this  work. 

Brooklyn,  November,  1901. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter        I  .         .         Introduction  .         .     Page       i 

Chapter       II         .                 Chests    .         .  .         Page     13 

Chapter     III  .         Chests  of  Drawers  .         .     Page    36 

Chapter     IV         Cupboards  and  Sideboards  .          Page    81 

Chapter       V  .         .         .    Chairs       .  .         .     Page  123 

Chapter     VI        Settles,  Couches,  and  Sofas  .         Page  196 

Chapter  VII  .         .         .    Tables       .  .         .     Page  216 

Chapter  VIII         .     Desks  and  Scrutoirs  .         Page  247 

Chapter     IX  .         .            Mirrors       .  .         .     Page  284 

Chapter       X         .         .     Bedsteads         .  ,         Page  300 

Chapter     XI  .         .         .   Clocks        .  .         .     Page  321 

Index             ...                     .          .  .         Page  347 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


ARTOTYPES 

Block-front  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  first  half  eighteenth  century. 

(Handles  missing.)     (Fig,  31.)  ; Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

Dutch  Marquetry  Chest,  1616.     (Fig.  4.) 18 

Dutch  Marquetry  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seven- 
teenth century.      (Fig.  21.) 44 

High  Chest  of  Drawers,  latter  half  eighteenth  century.     (Fig.  39.)  .  68 

Panelled  Oak  Press  Cupboard,  1660-80.     (Fig.  58.) 88 

Panelled  Oak  Press  Cupboard  with  Three  Drawers,  latter  half 

seventeenth  century.      (Fig.  62.) 92 

Chippendale  Chair.     (Fig.  145.) .  182 

Chippendale  Double  Chair.     (Fig.  172.) 202 

Marquetry  Top  of  Slate  Table  shown  in  Figure  194.  (Fig.  195.)  226 

Block-front  Cabinet-top  Scrutoir,  1770-80.     (Fig.  233.)      .    .    .  272 

Mantel  and  Mirror,  1783.     (Fig.  254.)      296 

Carved  Oak  Bedstead,  1593.     (Fig.  262.) 302 


HALF-TONE    CUTS 

FIGURE  PAGE 

1  Pine  Ship-chest,  first  quarter  seventeenth  century 14 

2  English  Oak  Chest,  about  1650 16 

3  Carved  Oak  Chest,  about  1660 17 

5  Carved  Oak  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  about  1660       19 

6  Panelled  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  1650-60 20 

7  Panelled  Oak  Chest  with  Two  Small  Drawers,  1660-70 21 


LIST     OF     ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGfRE  PAGE 

8  Panelled  Chest  with  Two  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century  22 

9  Carved  Oak  Chest  with  Two  Drawers,  1660-75 24 

10  Carved  ami  Panelled  Chest  with  Two  Drawers,  last  quarter  seven- 

teenth century 25 

1 1  Carved   Oak   Chest   with   Two   Drawers,  last   quarter   seventeenth 

century 26 

12  Carved  and  Stained  Oak  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  1690-17 10     .    .  27 

13  Carved  and  Stained  Chest  with  Two  Drawers,  1690-17 10  ....  28 

14  Carved  and  Stained  Chest  with  Three  Drawers,  1690-17  10     ...  29 

15  Carved   Oak   Chest  with    One    Drawer,  last  quarter   seventeenth 

century 3' 

16  Painted  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  about  1700 32 

17  Carved  Oak  Chest  of  Drawers,  latter  half  seventeenth  century     .    .  37 

18  Panelled  Chest  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century    ...  38 

19  Panelled   and  Carved  Chest  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth 

century 39 

20  Panelled  Chest  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century  ...  41 

22  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  centurj'     ....  45 

23  Walnut  Dressing-table  (not  restored),  about  1700 46 

24  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  1710-20.      (Stretchers  new  and  incorrect.)  47 

25  Walnut  Dressing-table,  about  17 10 50 

26  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  1710-20 51 

27  Handles  and  Escutcheons,  First  and  Second  Periods,  1 675-1 720  54 

28  Cabriole-legged  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  1710-20 55 

29  Walnut  and  Inlay  Cabriole-legged  Dressing-table,  1720-30     ...  56 

30  Cabriole-legged  High  Chest  of  Drawers  with  Steps  for  China,  about 

1730 57 

32     Scroll-top  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  1730-40 61 

^^     Dutch  Cupboard,  1730-40 62 

34  Dressing-table,  1730-40 63 

35  Dressing-table,  1760-70 64 

36  Japanned  Dressing-box,  1760-80 6y 

37  Double  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1740 65 

58     Double  Chest  of  Drawers,  1 760-80.    (Handles  probably  added  later.)  68 

40     Handles,  Third  and  Fourth  Periods,  dating  1710—60 69 

xii 


LIST     OF     ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE  PAGE 

41  Mahogany  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  1760-80 70 

42  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1770-80 71 

43  Block-front  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1780 72 

44  Block-front  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1780 72 

45  Swell-front  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  1780-1800 Tl 

46  Mahogany    and    Satinwood     Low    Chest    of    Drawers,    1780-90. 

(Brasses  new.) 74 

47  Sheraton  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1790 75 

48  Late  Sheraton  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  iSoo ^6 

49  Empire  Bureau,  1800-10.     (Handles  new.) "jj 

50  Empire  Bureau,  1810-20 78 

51  Handles,   1 770-1 800 79 

52  Handles,    1800-20 79 

53  Wash-stand,  Hepplewhite,  1780-90 80 

54  Wash-stand,  Sheraton,  about  1790 80 

55  Dining-hall,  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford.      (Showing  cupboard 

beneath  window.) 83 

56  Press  Cupboard,  about  1650 86 

57  Panelled  Cupboard,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century 87 

59  Panelled    and     Inlaid    Press    Cupboard,   last    quarter    seventeenth 

century 89 

60  Carved  Oak  Press  Cupboard,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century    .    .  91 

61  Carved  Oak  Press  Cupboard,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century    .    .  92 

63  Cupboard  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century 94 

64  Dutch  Cabinet,  first  quarter  seventeenth  century 97 

65  Painted  Kas,  latter  half  seventeenth  century 98 

66  Carved  Walnut  Kas,  about  middle  of  seventeenth  century    ....  99 

67  Carved  Spoon -rack,  about  1675 10 1 

68  Panelled  Cupboard,  1740-50 102 

69  Chest  of  Drawers  with  Cupboard  Top,  about  1780 103 

70  "  Beaufatt "  and  Wall  Panelling,  about  1740 105 

71  Corner  "  Beaufatt,"  about  1740 107 

72  Cupboard  with  Glass  Door,  1738 109 

•J I      Hepplewhite  Sideboard,  1790-1800 113 

74     Hepplewhite  Sideboard,  1790-1800.     (Handles  new.) 114 

xiii 


LIST     OF     ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE  PAGE 

75  Hepplewhite  Sideboard,  1799 uS 

■}6  Sheraton  Sideboard,  about  1800 116 

■j-j  Knife-  and  Spoon-box,  last  quarter  eighteentii  century 117 

78  Sheraton  Sideboard,  about  1800 118 

79  Empire  Sideboard,  1810-20 119 

80  Empire  Sideboard,  1810-20 120 

81  Empire  Sideboard,  1810-30      121 

82  Late  Empire  Sideboard,  1830 122 

83  Dining-hall,  Christ  Church,  Oxford 125 

84  Turned  Chair,  sixteenth  century 127 

85  Turned  Chair,  1575-1620 128 

86  Turned  Chair,  1 575-1620 128 

87  Turned  Chair,  first  quarter  seventeenth  century 130 

88  Wainscot  Chair,  about  1600 131 

89  Wainscot  Chair,  1614 132 

90  Wainscot  Chair,  1600-20 133 

91  Wainscot  Cliair,  first  half  seventeenth  century 134 

92  Chair-table,  1660-80 134 

93  Leather  Chair,  about  1640 135 

94  Flemish  Chair,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century 141 

95  Flemish  Chair,  about  1690 143 

96  Chair  showing  English  Adaptation  of  Flemish,  1680-90 143 

97  Chair  showing  English  Adaptation  of  Flemish,  1 680- 1 700.     (Feet 

missing.) 144 

98  Italian  Chair,  1680- 1700 145 

•  99  Spanish  Chair,  latter  half  seventeenth  century 147 

100  Chair  in  Spanish  Style,  1680-1700 149 

lOi  Chair  showing  Flemish  and  Spanish  Styles,  1680-1700 149 

102  Late  Spanish,  1700-10 150 

103  Late  Spanish,  1700-10 150 

104  Late  Spanish,  showing  Dutch  Influence,  1700-15       151 

105  Queen  Anne  Chair,  showing  Spanish  Feet,  1710-20 151 

106  Slat-back,  about  1730 153 

107  Slat-back,  about  1740-50      154 

108  Slat-back,  about  1750 154 


XIV 


LIST     OF     ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE  PAGE 

09  Slat-back,  about  1760-70 155 

10  Banister-back,  1710-20 155 

11  Banister-back,  1730-40 156 

12  Banister-back,  1740-50 156 

13  Roundabout  Chair,  sliowing  Spanish  Foot,  about  1720-30  ....  157 

14  Dutch  Chairs  with  Underbrace,  1710-30 158 

15  Dutch  Chairs,  about  1730 159 

16  Dutch  Roundabout  Chair,  Extension  Top,  about  1730-40    ....  160 

17  Dutch  Chairs  with  Rush  Seats,  about  1740 161 

18  Simple  Dutch  Chairs,  common  throughout  eighteenth  century    .    .  161 
19-21      Dutch  Chairs,  dating  about  1740 162 

22  Dutch  Chair,  about  1740 163 

23  Cabriole-legged  Cosey-chair,  1730-40 164 

24  Windsor  Rocking-chair,  latter  half  eighteenth  century 166 

25  Windsor  Arm-  and  Side-chairs,  latter  half  eighteenth  century     .    .  166 

26  Fan-back  Windsor  Chairs,  latter  half  eighteenth  century      ....  167 

27  Windsor  Writing-chair,  1760-80      168 

28  Windsor    Chair,  showing    Carved    Arms,    last    quarter    eighteenth 

century 169 

29  Chair-backs    in    Queen    Anne,    Chippendale,    Hepplewhite,    and 

Sheraton  Designs 172 

30  Chinese  Chair,  about  1800 174 

31  Chippendale  Chair I7S 

32  Chippendale  Chair '75 

33  Chippendale  Chair 176 

34  Chippendale  Chair 176 

35  Chippendale  Chair 177 

36  Chippendale  Chair 177 

l"]     Chippendale  Roundabout  Chair 178 

38     Chippendale  Roundabout  Chair,  Extension  Top 178 

39-41      Chairs  in  Chippendale  Style 179 

42  Chippendale  Chair 181 

43  Chippendale  Chair 182 

44  Chippendale  Chair 182 

46-48     Chippendale  Slat-back  Chairs 183 


LIST     OF     ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE  PAGE 

149  Chippendale;  Chair 184 

150  Chippendale  Chair 184 

151  Chippendale  Chair 185 

152  Chippendale  Chair 185 

153  Hepplewhitc  Chair 186 

154  Hepplewhite  Chair 186 

155  Hepplewhite  Chair 187 

156  Hepplewhite  Chair 187 

157  Hepplewhite  Cosey-chair 188 

158  Sheraton  Chairs      189 

159  Sheraton  Chairs       189 

160  Sheraton  Chair 191 

161  Sheraton  Chair 191 

162  Sheraton  Chair 192 

163  Painted  Sheraton  Chair 192 

164  Painted  Sheraton  Chairs 193 

165  Phyfe  Chair 194 

166  Empire  Chair 194 

167  Empire  Chairs 194 

168  Carved  Oak  Settle,  latter  half  seventeenth  century 197 

169  Pine  Settle,  first  half  eighteenth  century 198 

170  Turned  Settee  with  Turkey- work  Upholstery,  about  1660   ....  199 

171  Dutch  Double  Chair,  1740-50 201 

173  Upholstered  Settee,  latter  half  eighteenth  century 203 

174  Sheraton  Double  Chair,  1 780-1 800 205 

175  American  Sheraton  Settee,  1800-20 206 

176  Flemish   Couch,  latter  half  seventeenth  century.      (Seat  and  back 

ori<finally  cane.) 207 

177  Rush-bottom  Couch,  1730-40 208 

178  Chippendale  Couch,  1760-70 209 

179  Chaise-longue,  about  1800 210 

180  Chippendale  Sofa,  1760-80 211 

181  Sheraton  Sofa,  about  1800 213 

182  Empire  Cornucopia  Sofa,  1810-20 214 

183  Empire  Sofa,  1810-20 215 


LIST     O  F     I  L  L  V  S  T  RATIONS 

FIGURE  PACK 

184  Empire  Sofa,  1810-20 215 

185  Oak  Drawing- table,  early  seventeenth  centur\- 218 

186  Oak  Table,  first  half  seventeenth  century 219 

187  Oak  Table,  about  1700 220 

188  Oak  Table,  last  quarter  seventeenth  ccntiir}- 220 

189  Chair-table,  1660-80 221 

I  go  "  Thousand-legged  Table,"  first  half  seventeenth  century     ....  222 

191  "  Thousand-legged  Table,"  latter  half  seventeenth  century    ....  223 

192  "  Butterfly  Table,"  about  1700 224 

193  X -Braced  Table,  last  quarter  se\-enteenth  centur\- 225 

194  Slate-top  Table,  last  quarter  seventeenth  centur\- 226 

196  Dutch  Table,   1720-30 228 

197  Dutch  Table,  about  1730 229 

198  Dutch  Table  with  Two  Leaves,  1720-40 229 

199  Mahogany  Drop-leaf  Table,  1750 230 

200  Tea-table,  about  1730 231 

201  Tea-table,  1740-50 231 

202  Tripod  Candle-stantl,   1720-40 232 

203,  204     Pie-crust  Table,  1750-75 233 

205  Tea-tray  Table,  1750-75 234 

206  Chippendale  Table,  1760-80 235 

207  Chippendale  Card-table,  1760-80 236 

208  Chippendale  Card-table,  1760-80 237 

209  Hepplewhite  Table,  1780-90 238 

210  Sheraton  Table,  1780-90 239 

211  Hepplewhite  Card-table,  1780-90 241 

212  Sheraton  Card-table,  about  1790 241 

213  Empire  Card-table,  about  18 10 243 

214  Empire  Work-table,  1820-30 244 

215  Empire  Card-table,  1810-20 245 

216  Empire  Pillar-and-claw  Table,  1810-20 245 

217  Sofa-table,  1810-20 246 

218  Bible-box,  1649 249 

219  Desk-box,  first  half  se\enteenth  century 250 

220  Desk-box  in  "  Hadley  "  Pattern,  1690-1710 250 


XVII 


LIST     OF     I  L  L  U  S  r  1<  A  T  I  O  X  S 

FIGURE  IA(;E 

221  Desk-box,  latter  half  seventeenth  centurj- 251 

222  Desk  on  Frame,  about  1675     .' 252 

223  Ball-foot  Scrutoir,  about  1700 255 

224  Cabriole-legged  Scrutoir,  1720-40.      (Handles  and  hinges  new.)      .  258 

225  Cabriole-legged  Scrutoir,  1740-50 260 

226  Slant- top  Scrutoir,  1740-50 261 

227  Cabinet-top  Ball-foot  Scrutoir,  about  1700  " 265 

228  Cabinet-top  Scrutoir,  1740-50 267 

229  Slant-top  Scrutoir,  about  1750 268 

230  Slant-top  Scrutoir,  1760-80 269 

231  Slant-top  Scrutoir,  1760-80 270 

232  Block-front  Cabinet-top  Scrutoir,  1760-80 271 

234  Block-front  Cabinet-top  Scrutoir,  1770-80       273 

235  Block-front  Slant-top  Scrutoir,  1770-80       272 

236  Serpentine-front  Slant-top  Scrutoir,  1760-80 275 

237  Fire-screen  Scrutoir,  1780-90 276 

238  Sheraton  Writing-table,  about  1789 277 

239  Sheraton  Scrutoir,  18 10 278 

240  Scrutoir  with  Bookcase  Top,  about  1800 279 

241  Empire  Desk,  about  1820 281 

242  Marquetrj'  Empire  Scrutoir 282 

243  Inlaid  Olive-wood  Mirror,  seventeenth  centur\- 286 

244  Walnut  and  Gilt  Mirror,  1720-40 287 

245  Queen  Anne  and  Chippendale  Urns 287 

246  Walnut  and  Gilt  Mirror,  1720-40.      (Centre  ornament  missing.) .     .  288 

247  Wood  and  Gilt  Mirror,  about  1730.     (Some  parts  missing.)    .     .    .  288 

248  Carved  and  Gilt  Mirror,  1730-50.      (Glass  new.) 289 

249  Carved  and  Gilt  Mirror,  1750-60 290 

250  Filigree  Gilt  Mirror,  1770-80       290 

251  Mahogany  Inlaid  and  Gilt  Filigree  Mirror,  1 770-80 291 

252  Hepplewhite  Mirror,  1780-90 292 

253  Carved  and  Gilt  Girandole,  about  1780 293 

255  Gilt  and  Painted  Mirror,  about  1800 295 

256  Mahogany  and  Gilt  Constitution  Mirror,  1780-90 296 

257  Constitution  Mirror,  18 10-15 296 

.wiii 


LIST     OF     ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURE  PAGE 

25S  Carved  Mahogany  Empire  Mirrors,  18 10-20 298 

259  Gilt  Empire  Mirror,  18 10-20 298 

260  Gilt  Mantel  Mirror,  Empire  Style,  1810-20 299 

261  Enamel  and  Brass  Mirror  Rosettes 299 

263  Couch-bedstead,  seventeenth  century 307 

264  Cradle,  sixteenth  century 308 

265  Wicker  Cradle,  early  seventeenth  century 309 

266  Mahogany  Bedstead,  about  1750 311 

267  Draped  Bedstead,  late  eighteenth  century 312 

268  Mahogany  Bedstead,  Ball-and-claw  Feet,  1770-80 313 

269  Examples  of  Empire  Bedposts,  1810-20 315 

270  Empire  Bedstead,  about  18 10 317 

271  Low-post  Bedstead,  1810-20 316 

272  Low-post  Bedstead,  1820-30 319 

273  French  Bedstead,  about  1830 320 

274  Portable  or  Table  Clock,  1710-20 323 

275  Portable  or  Table  Clock,  last  quarter  eighteenth  century    ....  323 

276  Chamber  or  Lantern  Clock,  1600-40 324 

277  Chamber  or  Lantern  Clock,  1660-80 325 

278  Chamber  or  Lantern  Clock,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century  ...  328 

279  Dutch  Chamber  Clock,  seventeenth  century 329 

280  Tall  Clock,  about  1700 331 

281  Tall  Clock,  about  1 700-10 334 

282  Dial  of  Clock  shown  in  Figure  281        334 

283  Dial  of  Tall  Clock  showing  Arch  Top,  1725-30 335 

284  Musical  Clock,  Chippendale  Case,  1760-70 ^^6 

285  Dial  of  Clock  shown  in  Figure  284 336 

286  Burnap  Clock,  1799 ,  .     .     .  337 

287  Tall  Clock  with  Painted  Face,  about  1800 339 

288  French  Clock  of  Alabaster,  1800-20 338 

289  Willard  or  Banjo  Clock,  1800-20 341 

290  Willard  or  Banjo  Clock,  1800-20 341 

291  Clock  made  by  A.  Willard,  early  nineteenth  century 342 

292  Mantel  Clock,  18 12 343 

293  Mantel  Clock,  1820-30 344 

xix 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  history  of  furniture  in  this  country,  in  England,  and  in 
Holland  is  so  closely  allied,  and  so  plainly  reflects  the 
political  and  commercial  histories  of  the  time,  that  it  would 
seem  necessary,  for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  subject,  to  give 
this  brief  outline  before  taking  up  the  matter  in  detail. 

It  is,  of  course,  not  contended  that  the  styles  of  furniture 
changed  suddenly,  with  each  political  change,  or  that  a  few  speci- 
mens may  not  have  appeared  earlier  than  the  periods  here  given. 
Style  follows  the  general  law  of  slow  development,  and  it  is  attempted 
here  to  give  only  the  period  when  a  given  style  became  dominant, 
and  to  trace  somewhat  the  reasons  for  a  change. 

At  the  time  our  history  opens  James  I  was  on  the  English 
throne,  and  the  Dutch  for  some  years  had  commanded  the  seas, 
carrying  on  a  prosperous  trade  with  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  East 
Indies.  Antwerp  was  the  great  commercial  centre,  and  was  export- 
ing to  England  household  furniture  and  choice  dry-goods ;  receiving 
in  exchange  only  crude  raw  materials,  such  as  wool,  lead,  and  tin, 
tosfether  with  beer  and  cheese.  Holland  was  at  this  time  receiving 
from  Spain  and  Italy  the  cane  furniture  which  later  came  to  England, 
under  Charles  II.  Consequently,  the  Dutch  possessed  the  best  that 
the  world  afforded. 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

In  England  the  furniture  was  scarce,  and  unless  imported  was 
confined  to  the  turned  and  wainscot  types  entire!)'.  In  fact,  this 
period  is  characterized  by  the  beauty  of  the  carving  and  panelling 
which  appeared  in  great  profusion  in  the  better  class  of  homes,  and 
to  which  has  been  given  the  name  Jacobean.  In  design  it  was 
a  mixture  of  the  more  or  less  grotesque  Elizabethan  carving  and  the 
Italian  classic,  which  had  just  been  brought  to  the  country  from 
Holland,  and  it  would  be  worthy  of  but  slight  mention  in  a  book  on 
colonial  furniture  in  America,  were  it  not  that  the  carving  found  its 
way  to  this  country  on  many  chests,  cupboards,  and  wainscot  chairs. 

The  almost  universal  wood  was  oak,  which  was  easily  obtain- 
able, growing  as  it  did  abundantly  in  England  at  that  time.  Chairs 
were  particularly  scarce,  there  being  sometimes  but  one  in  a  house. 
This  one,  as  a  mark  of  dignity  or  respect,  was  reserved  for  the 
master  or  his  guest.  Benches  called  "forms"  almost  entirely  took 
the  place  of  chairs.  In  style,  the  chair  was  plain  and  massive,  with 
straight,  square  legs,  and  a  double  brace  around  the  lower  part ; 
or  it  took  the  form  of  the  turned  chair,  similarly  braced,  the  latter 
beine  the  chair  of  the  middle  class,  and  for  that  reason  more  common 
in  this  country.  The  upholstered  chair  was  also  introduced  from 
Venice,  its  use  denoting  a  degree  of  luxury  not  before  attained. 

The  table  before  and  perhaps  during  the  early  part  of  James's 
reign  was  in  form  long  and  narrow,  placed  on  cross-bars  in  the  shape 
of  an  X,  or  on  legs  with  heavy  underbracing.  A  little  later  it  some- 
what improved  in  style,  and  James  presented  to  the  Earl  of  Middle- 
sex a  so-called  thousand-legged  table,  which  was  apparently  one  of 
the  new  styles  of  furniture  of  the  day. 

The  furniture  reaching  this  country,  at  this  earliest  time,  was 
almost  entirely  of  English  origin,  except,  of  course,  that  imported  to 
New  Amsterdam.  The  settlers  brought  with  them  what  little  furni- 
ture they  could,  probably  all  of  which  had  been  in  use  in  England,  or 
in  Holland,  where  the  Pilgrims  had  taken  it,  and  as  more  pieces  were 


INTRODUCTION 

needed  they  were  made  after  the  patterns  of  those  which  were 
brought  over.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  colonists  became  perma- 
nently settled,  and  had  acquired  means  to  satisfy  their  tastes,  we  find 
them  importing  from  Holland  as  well  as  from  England. 

During  the  reign  of  Charles  I  the  character  of  the  furniture  im- 
proved but  little,  owing  to  the  unsettled  political  conditions.  The 
tables,  however,  increased  in  size,  and  often  leaves  were  added, 
which  could  be  raised  or  dropped.  The  thousand-legged  table  was 
also  enlarged,  and  came  into  use  as  a  sort  of  extension  dining-table. 
Couches  now  also  put  in  their  appearance. 

In  Holland  the  Spanish  pieces  and  the  leather  chair  imported 
from  Venice  were  at  this  time  being  developed. 

The  general  use  of  the  chair  in  England  dates  from  the  Com- 
monwealth, and  the  reason  can  readily  be  traced  to  the  democratic 
tendency  of  the  age ;  but,  owing  to  the  still  unsettled  state  of  affairs, 
little  improvement  is  seen,  although  the  leather  chair  with  brass 
nails  already  referred  to  was  imported  from  Holland,  and  shows  a 
slight  advance  in  comfort. 

With  the  Restoration  (1660)  came  Continental  ideas  and  styles, 
French,  Italian,  and  Dutch,  and  this  improvement  made  itself  felt 
almost  immediately  in  this  country  in  such  places  as  Salem  and  Boston 
and  generally  throughout  the  South. 

A  style  of  chair  which  had  considerable  influence  both  in  England 
and  here  was  the  spiral  turned  chair,  doubtless  of  French  origin, 
which,  with  its  modification,  became  very  popular  during  this  reign. 
This  was  an  upholstered  chair,  usually  covered  with  Turkey  work  or 
leather,  and  such  chairs  are  mentioned  in  large  numbers  in  all  in- 
ventories. The  so-called  Flemish  cane  pieces,  with  Spanish  or  scroll 
feet  and  carved  front  braces  and  backs,  also  appeared  during  this  reign. 

With  the  Revolution  of  1688,  which  placed  William  and  Mary  on 
the  English  throne,  came  a  considerable  change  in  the  style  of  furni- 
ture which  was  destined  to  influence  the  art  for  the  ne.xt  hundred 

3 


COLONIAL     I'  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

years.  This  change  was  due  not  onl)-  to  the  fact  that  WilHam  natu- 
rally brought  with  him  Dutch  ideas,  but  also  to  the  Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1685),  after  which  many  Huguenots,  com- 
posed mostly  of  the  artisan  class,  fled  to  the  Netherlands  and  England, 
giving  a  great  stimulus  to  the  trades  of  those  countries.  This 
change,  however,  does  not  seem  materially  to  have  affected  the  colo- 
nies until  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the 
st\le  is  generally  called  Queen  Anne.  During  the  first  part  of 
William  and  Mary's  reign  the  popularity  of  the  Flemish  furniture 
was  at  its  heio-ht;  but  there  was  now  introduced  the  cabriole-  or 
bandy-legged  furniture  with  the  shell  ornamentation,  and  this  style, 
with  many  modifications  and  elaborations,  continued  down  to  the 
revival  of  the  classic  forms  by  Adam,  late  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. As  it  was  during  this  period  that  the  colonies  had  passed 
bevond  the  struggle  for  the  mere  necessities  of  life,  and  were  beauti- 
fying  their  homes  with  the  best  from  the  European  markets,  we  find 
many  examples  of  cabriole-legged  pieces  in  this  country  in  high-boys, 
desks,  and  especially  in  many  designs  of  chairs.  It  was  also  due  to 
the  Dutch  influence  that  marquetry  was  introduced  into  England 
about  this  time;  but  it  did  not  become  very  popular  there  until  about 
a  century  later.  Sideboards  are  mentioned  in  England  as  early  as 
1553,  but  they  were  probably  tables  without  drawers,  and  it  was  not 
until  this  reign  that  sideboards  with  drawers  came  into  use.  They 
were  made  of  oak,  carved  and  panelled  in  fancy  shapes,  and  often 
colored.  An  example  of  one  of  these  is  to  be  seen  at  South  Kensing- 
ton Museum.  They  were  similar  in  character  to  the  chests  of  drawers 
and  cupboards  of  the  same  period,  and  the  inventories  show  but 
few  to  have  been  in  this  country.  Although  we  find  mention  of 
looking-glasses  in  the  inventories  from  the  very  first,  yet  it  was  not 
until  about  this  reign  that  they  came  into  general  use.  They  were 
often  carved  and  inlaid  with  ivory  and  wood,  and  sometimes  made 
entirely   with  glass. 


I  N  T  R  O  D  U  C  T  I  O  N 

Let  us  pause  here,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  to  con- 
sider the  furniture  which  had  come  to  the  colonies  during  that  century. 
Up  to  1650  furniture  must  have  been  very  scarce,  and  in  the  earher 
inventories  the  only  furniture  mentioned  was  tables,  chairs,  chests, 
and  bedsteads.  As  prosperity  increased,  furniture  became  very  plen- 
tiful, and  before  the  new  century  began  the  wealthier  class  about  New 
York  and  the  other  seaports  had  all  that  the  European  markets  could 
offer.  The  South  seems  to  have  been  particularly  well  provided 
with  court  cupboards,  chests,  couches,  and  leather  chairs,  while  in 
New  England  chests  of  drawers,  desks,  scrutoirs,  and  Turkey-work 
chairs  were  more  plentiful.  The  furniture  in  the  South  was  largely 
imported,  for  the  expression  "old"  is  mentioned  with  all  kinds  of  furni- 
ture from  the  very  first,  while  in  New  England  the  low  valuations  lead 
us  to  believe  that  most  of  the  furniture  there  was  home-made.  The 
high  chests  of  drawers  appear  first,  as  might  be  expected,  in  the  New 
York  records,  and  last  in  the  South.  In  New  England  they  seem  to 
have  been  in  common  use  as  early  as  1685-90.  The  reason  for 
this  seems  to  be  that  New  England  was  in  rather  close  touch  with 
Holland,  where  this  style  originated,  while  the  South  only  traded 
with  England,  where  these  pieces  never  became  very  popular.  At 
Philadelphia  the  records  show  luxury  from  the  beginning,  and  as  a  rule 
valuations  were  higher  there  than  elsewhere.  The  furniture  of  New 
Amsterdam  seems  to  have  differed  from  that  found  in  New  England 
and  the  South  in  several  ways.  The  furniture  mentioned  in  New 
Amsterdam  shows  clearly  the  influence  of  the  Continental  and  Eastern 
markets,  mention  being  made  of  wicker  furniture,  East  India  cabinets, 
ebony  chairs,  and  India  blankets,  etc.,  the  reasons  for  which,  probably, 
were  that  the  Dutch  still  controlled  the  East  India  trade,  and,  further, 
that  New  York  was  made  a  harbor  for  that  large  class  of  per- 
sons who  at  that  time,  like  Captain  Kidd,  were  engaged  in  piracy. 
Little  mention  is  found  of  carved  oak.  There  are  no  court  or  livery 
cupboards  mentioned  in  the  New  York  inventories,  but  nearly  every 

5 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  KM   r  IT  R  E 

family  had  a  /cas  or  /cassc,  a  large  linen-cupboard,  and  this  piece  of 
furniture  is  found  nowhere  else  in  this  country. 

The  seventeenth-century  furniture  is  still  quite  plentifully  found 
in  New  England  and  New  York,  but  seems  totally  to  have  disap- 
peared from  the  South,  and  were  it  not  for  the  inventories,  there 
would  be  no  indication  of  its  existence  there. 

This  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  South  the  people 
were  wealthier  and  could  discard  the  old-  for  the  new-fashioned, 
while  in  New  England,  except  in  the  large  seaport  towns,  there 
was  little  wealth,  and  in  New  York,  although  with  sufficient  wealth 
to  discard  what  was  old-fashioned,  family  pride  and  the  traditions 
attaching  to  the  furniture  were  sufficient  to  save  much  of  it  from 
destruction. 

Many  writers  on  English  furniture  maintain  that  the  golden  age 
ot  turniture  and  interior  decoration  was  durinsjf  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury,  and  this  we  believe  is  true  also  of  this  country,  where,  according 
to  the  inventories,  the  carved  and  wainscoted  chests  and  cupboards 
and  the  Flemish  caned  chairs  seem  to  have  been  plentiful  before 
the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

With  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  heavy  oak  furni- 
ture began  to  decline  in  popularity,  and  in  its  place  came  the  more 
graceful  bandy-legged  pieces.  The  cupboards  were  replaced  by  the 
high  chests  of  drawers,  the  oak  desk-boxes  by  scrutoirs  of  cherry 
and  mahogany  of  a  totally  new  style,  the  heavily  underbraced  tables 
by  the  more  delicate  bandy-legged  ones,  and  the  chairs  followed  the 
same  fashion. 

Early  in  Anne's  and  even  in  the  last  part  of  William's  reign 
the  simple  straight  cornice  used  in  furniture  and  over  doorways 
began  to  give  way  to  the  more  elaborate  form  of  the  swan-neck  or 
broken-arch  cornice,  which  made  its  appearance  in  architecture  as 
early  as  1700,  but  was  little  used  in  furniture,  apparently,  earlier  than 
I  730,  when  it  became  very  popular. 

6 


INTRODUCTION 

Nothing,  perhaps,  influenced  the  furniture  of  the  eighteenth 
century  so  much  as  the  introduction  of  mahogany,  the  strength  of 
which  made  possible  a  quite  new  method  of  carving,  dehcate  and 
lacelike,  which  reached  its  perfection  in  some  of  Chippendale's 
models.  According  to  tradition,  mahogany,  although  known  since 
the  time  of  Raleigh,  was  first  made  into  furniture  in  England  about 
the  year  1720;  if  this  were  true,  the  colonies  would  have  the  honor  of 
having  discovered  its  great  value  for  furniture  some  jears  before  the 
mother-country,  for  in  the  Philadelphia  inventories  as  early  as  i  708 
mahogany  is  mentioned  as  made  up  into  furniture,  and  there  are 
entries  at  New  York  which  would  seem  to  indicate  that  there  was 
furniture  there  made  of  that  wood  about  fifteen  years  earlier.  The 
tradition  of  its  introduction  into  England  is,  however,  faulty  ;  for  it  is 
now  known  that  furniture  was  made  occasionally  of  this  wood  in 
England  during  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

During  the  reign  of  Anne  and  the  first  of  the  Georges  the  style 
of  furniture  remained  about  the  same,  all  showing  more  or  less  the 
Dutch  bandy  leg  with  duck  feet,  or  its  modification,  the  ball-and-claw 
foot.  These  pieces  were  at  first,  however,  rather  ponderous  and 
plain,  the  chairs  having  heavy  underbracing,  thus  destroying  the 
graceful  effect  obtained  by  the  cabriole  leg. 

Some  examples  of  carved  mahogany  furniture  before  the  time  of 
Chippendale  are  to  be  seen  in  England,  which  are  equal  to  anything 
ever  made.  There  is  in  the  Pendleton  collection  a  double  chair  and 
side-chairs  belonging  to  this  period  which  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  were  carved  by  Grinling  Gibbons,  Sir  Christopher  Wren's 
famous  protege,  as  the  designs  are  notably  those  used  by  Gibbons, 
and  the  workmanship  fine  enough  to  be  credited  to  him. 

About  1740  cabinet-makers  began  to  publish  books  of  designs 
of  such  merit  that  from  this  time  on  to  the  end  of  the  period  we 
treat  of  the  style  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  chief  designer,  and  not 
by  the  name  of  the  sovereign  in  whose  reign  it  was  introduced. 

7 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  i\M  T  U  R  E 

The  reason  for  this  appears  to  be  not  only  that  these  cabinet- 
makers pubHshed  books  of  designs,  which  had  not  before  been  done 
in  England,  except  perhaps  in  the  case  of  a  few  architects  like  Inigo 
Jones,  but  also  that  English  furniture  now  took  on  a  distinctive 
style,  and  was  imitated  in  several  of  the  European  countries.  Before 
this  period  little  that  was  original  had  been  produced  in  England ;  its 
architecture  and  furniture  were  borrowed  at  one  time  from  the  French, 
at  another  time  from  the  Dutch  or  the  Italian  school.  Prominent  in 
this  period  was  Chambers,  an  architect  and  cabinet-maker,  and  Chip- 
pendale, the  latter  probably  having  the  greatest  influence  of  any  one 
man  on  the  furniture  of  England  and  the  colonies. 

Thomas  Chippendale  was  essentially  a  carver  of  wood,  and  so 
faithful  was  he  to  his  art  that,  with  the  e.xception  of  a  few  gilt  and 
lacquer  pieces,  he  stuck  closely  to  his  profession,  working  almost  ex- 
clusively in  mahogany.  It  has  often  been  thought  that  Chippendale 
used  inlay  and  marquetry,  and  so  prevalent  is  this  idea  that  one  can 
hardly  take  up  a  catalogue  of  an  auction  sale  of  old-fashioned  furni- 
ture but  he  will  find  Chippendale's  name  affixed  to  such  pieces.  This 
idea  is  erroneous.  We  are  unable  to  find  a  single  instance  where  he 
used  either  inlaying  or  marquetry;  and  Mr.  Clouston,  in  his  admirable 
book  on  the  Chippendale  period,  bears  out  this  statement. 

In  one  sense,  originality  cannot  be  claimed  for  him,  as  he  bor- 
rowed his  ideas  from  the  Dutch,  I-'rench,  Italian,  Chinese,  Gothic, 
and  classic  models  ;  but  by  blending  these  different  styles  in  the  most 
ingenious  ways  he  produced  a  result  which  can  truly  be  called  origi- 
nal, and  which  made  a  style  distinctly  English.  His  success  lay  not 
onlv  in  his  beautiful  carvinof,  but  also  in  the  mechanical  construction 
of  his  pieces,  which  was  almost  faultless,  and  to  which  he  would  sacri- 
fice all  else.  For  that  reason  many  of  his  pieces  still  exist,  in  almost 
as  good  a  state  of  preservation  as  when  they  left  his  master  hand. 

According  to  Dr.  Lyon,  Chippendale's  individuality  does  not 
seem   to   have    come    into   general   notice  until  after  his  death ;    for, 


INTRODUCTION 

although  other  cabinet-makers  are  mentioned  in  inventories  and 
diaries  of  the  time,  no  mention  of  his  name  can  be  found. 

His  book,  "The  Gentleman's  and  Cabinet-Maker's  Director," 
was  tirst  published  in  1754,  and  passed  rapidly  through  several 
editions.  The  third  edition,  which  the  writer  has  examined,  was 
published  in  1762.  His  aims  were  lofty,  as  appears  from  his  Intro- 
duction :  "  Ot  all  the  arts  which  are  either  improved  or  ornamented  by 
architecture,  that  of  cabinet  making  is  not  only  the  most  useful  and 
ornamental  but  capable  of  receiving  as  great  assistance  from  it  as 
any  whatever."  He  seems  to  have  anticipated  the  many  criticisms 
that  were  to  be  heaped  upon  him,  or  perhaps  he  had  tasted  them 
already  ;  but  so  sure  was  he  of  his  ability  that  he  says  :  "  \  am  not 
afraid  of  the  fate  an  author  usually  meets  with  on  his  first  appearance 
from  a  set  of  criticks  who  are  never  wanting  to  show  their  wit  and 
malice  on  the  performances  of  others.  I  shall  repay  their  censures 
with  contempt.  Let  them  unmolested  deal  out  their  pointless  abuse, 
and  convince  the  world  that  they  have  neither  good  nature  to  com- 
mend, judgment  to  correct  nor  skill  to  execute  what  they  find  fault 
with." 

He  was  a  chair- maker  par  excellence,  and  some  of  the  elaborate 
designs,  as,  for  instance,  his  ribbon  back,  were  almost  beyond  compre- 
hension in  beauty  of  line  and  carving. 

He  did  not,  however,  confine  himself  exclusively  to  such  elabo- 
rate designs,  for  many  plainer  ones  are  extant  undoubtedly  from  his 
hands,  and  we  can  safely  say  that  the  chairs  with  the  carved  legs  and 
openwork  backs,  found  so  plentifully  in  this  country,  show  distinctly 
his  influence,  and  in  that  sense  can  be  called  Chippendale  chairs,  al- 
though probably  very  few  made  by  him  found  their  way  to  the  colonies. 

Chippendale  had  many  imitators  both  in  the  colonies  and  in  Eng- 
land. Among  the  best  known  arc  Manwaring,  Ince,  and  Johnson. 
As  a  rule  these  men  fell  far  short  of  the  standards  set  by  their  master, 
especially  in  point  of  construction  and  proportion.     This,  however, 

9 


C  O  L  O  KM  A  L     FURNITURE 

could  hardly  be  said  of  Ince,  whose  excellence  of  design  and  workman- 
ship made  him  a  close  rival  to  Chippendale. 

Robert  and  James  Adam  are  next  called  into  existence  by  the 
fickle  fashion,  which  in  that  age,  perhaps  more  than  in  any  other, 
was  tiring  ol  yesterday  and  eagerly  looking  for  something  new. 
They  were  really  architects,  and  began  in  1773  to  publish  their 
architectural  plates,  which  were  continued  until  a  third  \'olume  was 
brought  out  after  their  death  in  1822. 

In  style  theirs  was  the  pure  classic  of  Greece  and  Italy,  where 
Robert  Adam  spent  some  time,  fitting  himself  for  his  work.  This 
revival  of  the  classic  had  considerable  influence  on  the  architec- 
ture of  the  latter  part  of  George  Ill's  reign,  and  found  its  way 
to  this  country  in  architecture  rather  than  in  furniture.  One  of  the 
famous  colonial  architects,  Maclntire,  was  apparently  a  disciple  of  this 
school. 

We  now  come  to  the  second  great  cabinet-maker  of  the  age,  and  to 
a  period  of  almost  equal  importance  with  that  of  the  Chippendale.  As 
the  latter  had  influenced  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  George  III,  so 
Hepplewhite  w-as  destined  to  influence  the  England  of  i  7S0.  We  say 
Hepplewhite  because,  although  he  and  Shearer  appeared  at  about 
the  same  time,  their  designs  were  so  nearly  alike  that  one  can  hardly 
but  conclude  that  they  were  at  least  in  touch  with  each  other,  and 
because,  Hepplewhite  being  the  most  skilful  and  original  of  that 
school,  his  name  can  well  be  used  to  denote  the  period. 

In  style  Hepplewhite's  models  were  more  graceful  and  delicate 
than  Chippendale's ;  but  his  chairs  were  faulty  in  construction,  and 
he  seemed  to  defy  all  rules  of  mechanics. 

Before  his  time  the  splat  always  joined  the  back  of  the  seat,  thus 
giving  additional  support  to  the  w^eakest  point  in  the  chair;  but  Hep- 
plewhite not  only  ignored  this,  but  often  cut  away  the  back  at  this 
point,  thus  making  a  chair  which,  though  wonderfully  graceful,  w^as 
extremely  perishable ;    as   Mr.    Clouston  says   in   his    "  Chippendale 


INTRODUCTION 

Period":  "  From  first  to  last  his  work  was  a  protest  against  the  heavi- 
ness of  Chippendale,  and  he  used  every  means  in  his  power  to  make 
his  furniture  look  even  lighter  than  it  was." 

The  chief  characteristic  of  his  chair  was  the  shape  of  the  back, 
which  was  either  oval,  shield,  or  heart  shape.  The  point  in  which  he 
chiefly  excelled,  and  from  which  he  became  best  known  in  this  coun- 
try, was  in  the  swell-  and  serpentine-front  bureaus  and  sideboards ; 
these  pieces,  for  delicacy  of  line  and  beauty  of  inlay,  have  never  been 
excelled. 

Thomas  Sheraton,  the  last  of  the  famous  English  cabinet-makers 
whose  names  have  come  down  to  us,  published  his  book  of  designs  in 
1 79 1,  and  later  other  editions  with  further  designs.  The  book  is  at 
least  one  third  occupied  with,  to  the  untechnical  reader,  abstruse  direc- 
tions for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  laws  of  perspective  and  kin- 
dred topics,  which,  he  says  in  his  Introduction,  are  very  necessary  for 
a  cabinet-maker  to  understand.  He  refers  to  Chippendale's  designs 
as  "  now  wholly  antiquated,  but  possessing  great  merit  at  the  time 
they  were  published." 

Sheraton  seems  to  have  combined,  with  greater  or  less  success,  the 
inventions  of  his  forerunners,  especially  Shearer  and  Hepplewhite. 
He  eschewed  the  cabriole  leg  entirely,  and  his  designs  show  the 
straight  and  tapering  lines  followed  by  Hepplewhite.  He  did  little 
carving,  relying  almost  entirely  on  inlaying,  painting,  and  trimming 
in  brass  to  relieve  what  would  otherwise  be  monotonous  ;  and  it  is 
evident  that  he  strove  to  obtain  more  brilliant  effects  than  had  hitherto 
been  seen  in  England. 

His  chairs  were  of  simple  and  good  design  and  were  more  dura- 
ble than  Hepplewhite's.  The  large  majority  of  his  earlier  published 
designs  for  chairs  are  after  the  fashion  of  Figure  158.  He  gives  pic- 
tures of  and  directions  for  making  folding  beds,  tables,  and  wash- 
stands,  and  remarks  that  they  are  very  fashionable.  His  sideboards, 
almost  without  exception,  follow  Shearer's  and  Hepplewhite's  lines, 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

although  he  professes  great  disHke  for  their  work.  His  favorite  leg 
for  such  pieces  was  the  slender  fluted  one  set  into  a  rosette  where  it 
joins  the  top,  and  he  ornaments  these  pieces  with  elaborate  inlaying, 
often  adding  brass  rails  in  fancy  form  "  to  support  candles  for  the 
better  display  of  the  silver." 

In  later  years  his  designs  became  less  original  and  more  clumsy, 
until  he  finally  drifted  off  into  a  poor  copying  of  the  Empire  style. 

There  is  but  one  more  style  to  note  before  closing,  namely,  the 
Empire  style,  evidently  brought  into  existence  in  France  by  the  expe- 
dition of  Napoleon  to  Egypt. 

The  distinctive  feature  of  this  style  is  the  use  of  carved  heads  and 
feet  of  griffins,  sphinxes,  lions,  and  mummies.  Inlaying  was  profuse 
in  wood,  brass,  and  ormolu,  and  some  of  the  pieces,  especially  the 
sideboards  and  desks,  are  extremely  handsome ;  but,  in  the  main, 
the  style  is  inferior  to  those  which  it  replaced.  Its  influence  was, 
however,  widely  felt  in  Europe,  and  the  very  friendly  feeling  of  the 
young  American  States  at  this  time  for  everything  French  gave  it 
wide  popularity  here,  and  it  makes  up  a  large  percentage  of  the  fur- 
niture now  commonly  called  colonial. 

As  the  century  advanced,  the  styles  became  more  and  more  gro- 
tesque and  extravagant,  until  they  developed  into  the  ponderous  and 
ungainly  furniture  of  two  generations  ago. 

Nothinof  has  been  said  of  the  furniture  of  Louisiana.  That  section 
of  the  country  had  been  settled  by  the  French,  who  brought  with 
them  French  fashions  of  the  Louis  XV  and  XVI  periods,  and  of  the 
Empire.  These  styles  were  kept  pure,  and  diil  not,  as  in  the  North, 
become  Americanized.  Their  influence  has  therefore  not  been  felt 
outside  of  the  small  French  colony. 

The  collecting  of  antiques  seems  not  to  be  a  fad  of  the  present  day 
only,  for  in  the  Boston  "  Evening  Post"  for  April  8,  1771,  this  adver- 
tisement of  an  auction  appears  :  "At  the  house  of  the  late  Miss  Bessy 
Walker  all  of  her  house  furniture  some  of  which  is  really  antique." 


1 1 

CHESTS 

As  has  often  been  pointed  out,  chests  have  been  in  use  for  many 

/  \      centuries.      One  of  the  first  indications  of  civilization  in  mar 

^       jL  ^^    ^^^^    accumulation    of  property,   and  this    necessitates  a 

place    for  storing  what  has    been    accumulated.     Chests   or  coffers, 

therefore,   are  among  man's  oldest  possessions. 

In  England,  where  we  shall  follow  their  history  a  little,  the 
chests  of  Norman  times  were  huQ-e  oak  boxes,  bound  and  rebound 
with  iron,  and  sometimes  magnificently  wrought.  These  served  as 
receptacles  for  valuables  in  both  the  churches  and  castles,  and  were 
furnished  with  strong  locks,  the  mechanism  of  which  often  occupied 
the  entire  inside  of  the  chest's  cover.  For  many  years  these  chests 
served  for  seats  and  tables,  and  for  trunks  when  the  lord  and  lady 
travelled.  Some  ancient  manuscripts  show  their  tops  furnished  with 
chess-boards,  a  player  sitting  at  either  end  of  the  chest. 

Carving  as  an  art  is  also  very  old ;  it  is  referred  to  in  Exodus 
XXXV,  2i3y  'IS  "  in  carving  of  wood,  to  make  any  manner  of  cunning 
work."  Carving  was  at  first  employed  almost  exclusively  for  the 
beautifying  of  cathedrals  and  churches,  for  even  the  castles  of  kings, 
up  to  the  time  of  Henry  III,  were  very  bare,  and  showed  nothing  in 
the  way  of  fine  woodwork. 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  III  (1216-72),  however,  room- 
panelling  was  introduced  into  England,  and  the  archings  and  window- 

13 


COLONIAL     I^URNITURE 

frame  designs  lony-  used  in  the  churches  became  the  models  for  wood- 
carvings  used  in  the  castles  and  manor-houses  for  many  generations. 
Almost  every  design  found  on  the  chests  and  cupboards,  preserved 
in  the  English  museums,  are  those  employed  in  the  room-panelling  of 
the  period  to  which  the  furniture  belonged. 

What  the  chests  were  which  came  to  the  American  colonies 
with  the  first  setders  it  is  now  impossible  to  say.  There  is 
occasional    mention,    in    the    early    inventories,    of   wainscot    chests 


Figure  I. 
Pine  Ship-chest,  first  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

or  great  oak  chests,  but  by  far  the  larger  number  are  recorded 
simply  as  chests,  or  old  chests,  and  their  valuation  is  so  slight 
as  to  lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  they  must  have  been  of  very 
simple  design. 

Ship-chests  or  pine  boxes  were  probably  brought  over  by  all 
settlers.  Figure  i  shows  the  ship-chest  brought  by  Elder  Brewster, 
and  many  hundreds  of  boxes  such  as  this  probably  came  from  Hol- 
land and  England  during  the  years  when  the  colonies  were  being 
settled.  An  entry  appears  at  Boston,  in  the  items  of  the  estate  of  a 
man  who  died  on  the  ship  Castle  during  his  voyage  to  Massachusetts 


CHESTS 

in  1638,  of  "An  owld  pine  chest  5s";  and  of  two  other  chests  with- 
out description,  of  still  more  trifling  value. 

The  earliest  carved  chests  found  here  are  decorated  with  panels 
carved  in  arched  designs  identical  with  the  patterns  seen  in  England 
on  mantelpieces  and  wall-panellings  during  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean 
times.  Without  doubt  the  carved  chests  that  were  brought  over 
previous  to  1650  served  as  the  models  for  those  made  here  for  a  long 
time,  for  the  writer  has  identified  almost  every  pattern  used  on  early- 
chests  as  having  been  used  in  England,  and  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  originality  shown  in  the  designs  employed  in  this  country 
until  after  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

There  are  about  ten  designs  that  appear  repeatedly  in  the 
chests,  cupboards,  and  wainscot  chairs  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
These  are  used  in  many  combinations,  sometimes  eight  out  of  the 
ten  appearing  together  on  the  large  pieces,  and  from  three  to  five  on 
the  smaller  ones.  The  scroll  desig-n,  for  instance,  is  often  found  used 
in  single  form  for  a  border,  and  entwined  and  doubled  for  a  panel. 
Once  familiar  with  these  designs,  a  close  observer  will  find  furniture 
belonging  to  the  carved  oak  period  in  this  country  very  easy  to 
identify.  These  designs  will  be  pointed  out  as  they  are  met  with  in 
the  specimens  to  be  spoken  of  later. 

A  chest,  cupboard,  or  chair  is  occasionally  met  with  which  has 
carved  designs  not  traceable  to  England,  but  showing  French  or  Dutch 
influence.  Almost  without  exception  such  pieces  will  be  found  to  be 
made  of  foreign  wood,  and  the  designs  were  not  copied  here  to  any 
extent,  as  were  the  familiar  English  ones. 

Figure  2  shows  a  chest  with  the  characteristic  arching  and  pattern 
detail  used  throughout  the  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  periods.  Bur- 
ton Agnes  Hall,  built  in  1601,  shows  this  arched  carving  on  the  stair- 
case in  the  great  hall.  This  chest  is  constructed  in  the  usual  manner; 
the  stiles  and  rails  are  joined  with  mortise  and  tenon  (all  woodwork 
fastened  in  this  way  is  spoken  of  as  joined),  and  the  panels  arc  fitted 

15 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

into  this  frame.  The  wood  is  EnMish  oak,  and  the  carvinsf  exceed- 
ingly  good,  better  than  on  most  of  the  chests  made  here.  The  only  clew 
to  its  date  is  the  design  in  carving,  and  it  may  safely  be  placed  as 
early  as  1650.  This  chest  is  in  the  collection  of  the  Hon.  and  Mrs. 
Morgan  G.  Bulkeley,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut. 


Figure  2. 
English  Oak  Chest,  about  1650. 

Chests  followingf  the  general  form  of  Fio-ure  2  are  found  in  va- 
rious  sizes,  some  as  large  as  five  feet  in  length,  and  varying  in  height 
from  twenty  to  thirty  inches.  The  arches  are  sometimes  elaborate!)- 
carved,  sometimes  merely  indicated  by  slight  tracery,  and  any  and  all 
of  the  familiar  border  designs  are  used  to  decorate  the  stiles  and  rails. 

Another  early  pattern  of  chest  often  seen  has  the  panels  deco- 
rated with  geometrical  tracings,  the  centre  having  the  appearance  of 
being  diamond  shape,  octagon,  etc.  The  upper  rails  in  chests  of  this 
order  are  carved  in  scroll  or  half-circle  patterns,  and  the  stiles  have 
a  slight  tracery  on  their  edges.  One  chest  made  in  this  wa)-  is  shown 
in    Figure   3.     The    tradition    which   still   attaches    to   it    is   that    its 

owner.  Lady  Anne  Millington,  a  daughter  of  Lord  Millington,  came 

16 


CHESTS 

to  this  country  in  pursuit  of  her  lover,  a  British  army  officer.  Fail- 
ing- to  find  him,  she  taufrht  school  at  Greenwich,  Connecticut,  and 
married  Lieutenant  Gershom  Lockwood.  The  chest  is  said  to  have 
been  sent  to  her  by  her  parents  in  1660,  filled  with  "  half  a  bushel  of 


Figure  3. 
Carved  Oak  Chest,  about  1660. 

guineas  and  many  fine  silk  dresses."  The  chest  now  has  a  pine  top 
which  is  not  the  original.  It  is  in  the  possession  of  Professor  H.  B. 
Ferris,  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Gershom 
Lockwood  and  Lady  Anne  Millington,  as  is  also  the  writer. 

"  A  carved  chest  £i  "at  Plymouth  in  1657,  is  one  of  the  few  refer- 
ences to  carving  found  in  the  inventories  ;  but  as  description  of  any 
kind  is  generally  lacking,  carved  chests  were  probably  by  no  means 
as  scarce  as  these  records  would  make  it  appear. 

Figure  4  shows  a  chest  of  very  different  order  from  any  met 
with  among  the  English  settlers.  This  chest  is  undoubtedly  Dutch, 
and  was  found  by  the  writer  in  New  York  State.  The  panels  show 
the  arching  of  the  English  chest  shown  in  iMgure  2,  but  the  decoration 
is  inlay  or  marquetry  of  a  crude  kind.  Church  scenes  are  on  the  three 
front  panels ;  on  one  end  the  panel  is  decorated  with  plain  blocking 

17 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

in  alternate  light  and  dark  Avood,  the  blocks  about  one  and  one  half 
inches  square;  the  other  end  has  a  church,  showing  side  view  and 
steeple,  the  windows  being  cut  in  relief.  The  stiles  are  inlaid  with 
three  stripes  of  dark  wood,  and  the  capitals  are  of  the  same  dark  wood. 
The  top  is  panelled  with  heavy  mouldings  and  decorated  with  two 
large  inlaid  stars.  The  dentilled  cornice  which  appears  beneath  the 
moulding  on  the  cover  is  about  the  only  suggestion  of  English  chests. 
It  has  a  large  spring  lock,  and  above  the  lock  on  the  inside  appears 
the  inscription  "  I.  N.  R.  I.,"  suggesting  at  once  that  the  chest  was 
made  for  church  use;  but  the  lettering  is  so  small  and  in  so  inconspicuous 
a  place,  and  the  chest  throughout  so  crude  in  design,  that  we  are  in- 
clined to  believe  that  the  pious  inscription  was  placed  above  the  lock 
to  secure  it  against  thieves.  The  small  panels  at  the  right  and  left 
of  the  front  have  inlaid  the  initials  L.  W.  and  the  date  1616.  The 
\V  has  at  some  time  been  substituted,  as  the  panel  plainly  shows,  but 
not  very  recently,  as  this,  as  well  as  the  L,  is  badly  worm-eaten.  The 
dark  wood  of  the  marquetry  is  walnut,  but  the  mouldings  at  the  bot- 
tom and  on  the  top  are  soft  wood,  evidently  pine;  the  light  wood  is  a 
foreign  pine.  The  chest  when  found  was  in  a  most  dilapidated  con- 
dition, worm-eaten  throughout;  the  parts,  however,  are  practically  all 
original,  e.xcept  the  feet,  which  are  new. 

There  is  strong  indication  that  in  New  ^'ork,  where  the  Dutch 
influence  was  largely  felt,  the  chests  were  not  in  general  of  the 
carved  and  panelled  varieties  in  use  in  the  English  colonies. 
The  inventories  in  New  York,  although  they  show  a  large  number  of 
chests,  make  very  sparse  mention  of  oak  or  wainscot,  and  we  have 
been  unable  to  find  any  chests  surviving  among  the  Dutch  families 
that  are  of  oak  carved  or  panelled.  A  collector  who  has  made  system- 
atic search  among  the  Dutch  towns  along  the  Hudson  River  tells  us 
that  only  one  oak  chest  was  found,  and  that  of  a  well-known  Connecti- 
cut pattern.  Dutch  chests  were,  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  largely 
made  of  pine  and  often  painted  ;    the  finer  ones  were  of  black  walnut. 


DUTCH    MARQUETRY   CHEST,   1616. 
{Figure  4.) 


i 


CHESTS 

The  opinion  prevails  very  generally  among  students  of  the  sub- 
ject that  almost  all  the  chests  belonging  to  the  first  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  were  made  without  drawers.  This  opinion  is  largely 
based  upon  the  tact  that  the  chests  without  drawers  which  have  come 
to  lisfht  are  carved  in  desiirns  known  to  be  early,  while  chests  havim'- 
drawers  are,  the  majority  of  them,  decorated  with  the  designs  of  later 
date,  or  are  on  the  panelled  order,  which,  generally  speaking,  is  of 
later  origin  than  carving.  The  use  of  drawers,  however,  was  cer- 
tainly well  known  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  for 
chests  of  drawers  are  mentioned  at  Plymouth  as  early  as  1642.  The 
first  mention  we  have  found  in  the  inventories  of  a  chest  with  a 
drawer  is  at  Salem  in  1666;  alter  this  time  the  item  "chest  with  a 
drawer"  or  "with  drawers"  is  frequently  met  with,  and  by  far  the 
larger  number  of  chests  which  have  survived  are  made  with  one  or 
two  drawers. 


Fijjure  5. 
Carved  Oak  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  about  1660. 


A  small  chest  with  a  drawer  belonging  to  Mr.  Robert  T.  Smith, 
of  Hartford,  is  shown  in  Figure  5.     W'hat  has  been  referred  to  as  the 

19 


COLONIAL     r^  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

scroll  design  is  used,  both  sino^le  and  double,  on  this  chest.  The  tri- 
glyphs  which  appear  on  the  upper  rail  and  the  drawer  are  familiar 
ornaments  on  oak  pieces  of  all  kinds;  in  this  chest  they  are  carved 
and  not  applied.      The  drawer  is  without  knobs,  for,  as   it  has  no  rail 


Figure  6. 
Panelled  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  1650  60. 


below,   it   can   be    easily   opened  b\'   putting    the    hands    below    the 
moulded  edge. 

We  now  come  to  an  order  of  chest  in  which  the  construction  is 
the  same  as  that  already  met  with,  excepting  that  little  carving  is  used 
as  ornamentation,  the  decoration  being  supplied  with  mouldings  and 
split  turned  pieces.  This  method  of  decoration  was  not  approved  by 
architects,  and  is  spoken  of  in  the  following  words  by  Pollen:  "As 
the  years  advanced  into  the  seventeenth  century  Flemish  work 
became  bigger  and  less  refined,  diamond-shaped  panels  were  super- 
imposed on  square,  turned  work  was  split  and  laid  on,  drop  orna- 
ments were  added  below  tables  or  from  the  centre  of  arches  and 
panels — mere  additions  and  encumbrances  to  the  general  structure." 


CHESTS 

This  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  among  those  well  versed  in  the 
rules  of  construction,  but,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  some  of  the  cup- 
boards and  chests  made  in  this  way  are  very  pleasing  and  decorative. 

The  Flemish  and  Dutch  cabinet-makers  of  the  Renaissance  had 
made  frequent  use  of  panelling  and  turned  ornaments,  and  such  work 
became  popular  in  England  in  the  early  seventeenth  century.  There 
is  preserved  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum  a  mantelpiece 
removed  from  a  house  which  was  built  in  London  in  1620.  This 
mantelpiece  shows  the  panelling  and  drop  ornaments  used  in  the 
same  way  as  on  the  chests  and  cupboards. 

Figure  6  shows  a  chest  owned  by  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society  with   decorative   effects   obtained   entirely   by   panelling   and 


Figure  7. 
Panelled  Oak  Chest  with  Two  Small  Drawers,  1660-70. 


turned  ornaments.      No   paint  is  used  on  the   mouldings  or  panels. 
The  chest  is  made  of  English  oak  throughout,  and  was  undoubtedly 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

of  English  manufacture.  The  panels  retain  the  arch  effect  of  the  old 
carving,  and  we  therefore  place  the  date  of  this  chest  about  1650-60. 
Figure  7  shows  a  panelled  chest  owned  by  the  Pilgrim  Society  at 
Plymouth.  The  mouldings  on  the  rails  are  slightly  carved,  which  is  not 
uncommonly  the  case.  What  appears  to  be  a  long  drawer  at  the  bot- 
tom of  this  chest  is  divided  into  two  short  ones,  and  while  this  is  almost 
always  the  appearance  caused  by  the   panelling  and  ornaments,  this 


Figure  8. 
Panelled  Chest  with  Two  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

is  the  only  case  of  which  the  writer  knows  where  two  small  drawers 
actually  occur,  and  it  has  l)een  stated  that  this  was  never  the  case. 

A  two-drawer  panelled  chest  found  in  the  vicinity  ot  Boston,  and 
now  belonging  to  the  writer,  is  shown  in  I'igure  8.  Panelled  chests, 
chests  of  drawers,  and  cupboards  similar  to  this  have  been  found  in 
considerable  numbers  in  the  region  of  Boston,  while  they  are  rarely 
met  with  in  other  parts  of  New  England.  This  fact  seems  to  indicate 
that  they  were   made  near  where   they  are   tound.      The   chest   here 


CHESTS 

shown  has  the  front  panelled  in  qnite  an  elaborate  design,  the  fancy 
mouldings,  except  those  on  the  lower  drawer,  being  of  pine  and  origi- 
nally painted  or  stained  red.  The  centre  of  the  raised  square  panels 
on  the  chest  section  are  pine,  and  show  the  remains  of  a  red  stain  or 
paint,  probabh'  in  imitation  of  snakewood.  The  lower  drawer  has 
the  mouldings  of  oak,  and  appears  never  to  have  been  stained.  The 
raised  flat  pine  surfaces  of  the  chest  part  and  of  the  upper  drawer 
were  painted  black.  The  mouldings  on  the  rails  are  pine,  alternately 
black  and  red.  The  ends  of  the  chest  have  two  oblong  panels  of 
pine,  which  appear  to  have  been  stained  brownish  red.  The  top  is 
oak,  but  the  back,  and  the  backs  and  bottoms  of  the  drawers,  are 
pine.  The  space  on  the  stiles  above  the  large  turned  ornaments 
was  evidently  finished  originally  with  a  turned  ornament  of  some 
description.  The  feet  are  new,  but  restored  by  measurement  of  a 
chest  almost  identical  with  this. 

There  is  a  panelled  chest  with  three  drawers  in  the  Bolles  col- 
lection which  stands  about  as  high  as  a  modern  chiffonnier.  The 
chest  portion  occupies  about  one  third  of  the  space ;  the  drawers 
which  fill  the  rest  are  graduated  in  width  from  narrow  to  wide 
toward  the  bottom.  The  panels  are  formed  by  mouldings  sim- 
ply, and  each  drawer  is  supplied  with  a  round  escutcheon  and 
two  drop  handles  of  brass.  A  wide  single-arch  moulding  runs 
between  each  drawer,  and  is  mitred  into  a  moulding  which  follows  the 
stiles.  Each  end  is  formed  of  one  large  panel.  This  would  seem  to 
be  the  latest  form  which  the  chest  took,  and  the  inconvenience  of  hav- 
ing the  chest  portion  so  high  must  have  prevented  its  extensive  use. 

The  mouldings  on  the  best  panelled  chests  are  of  cedar,  but,  as  a 
rule,  on  the  American-made  chests  they  are  of  pine,  and  painted  or 
stained  red  in  imitation  of  cedar  or  rosetta-wood  (an  East  Indian 
wood  brilliant  red  in  color,  heavily  grained  in  black,  which  was  largely 
used  by  Spanish  and  Italian  caliinet-makers  during  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries).     The  turned  ornaments  are  seldom  found  made 

23 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

of  oak,  but  of  pine,  beech,  and  maple,  and  painted  black  in  imitation 
of  ebony.  Panelled  chests  were  made  in  a  great  number  of  designs, 
following  geometrical  patterns ;  they  are  occasionally  found  with 
large  ball  feet,  and  when  this  is  the  case  a  heavy  outstanding  mould- 
ingf  finishes  the  front  and  ends  ot  the  chest.  The  foot  in  other  cases 
is  simply  the  stile  prolonged  from  four  to  eight  inches.  The  English- 
made  panelled  chests  are  usually  made  entirely  of  hard  wood,  and 
neither  stained  nor  painted.  The  rule  which  seems  to  have  been 
general  in  American  panelled  pieces  is  that  where  the  mouldings  or 
panels  were  of  hard  wood,  i.e.,  oak  or  cedar,  they  were  left  natural ; 
where  they  were  of  pine  they  were  painted  or  stained.  This  rule 
may  not  always  have  been  followed,  and  if  a  hard-wood  moulding  or 
panel  shows  evidence  of  having  been  colored,  it  would  seem  safe  to 
restore  according  to  this  evidence. 


Figure  9. 
Carved  Oak  Chest  with  Two  Drawers,  1660-75. 


A    handsome  carved  chest  with  two  drawers,  which  is  in  the  col- 
lection of  Mr.  Henr)-  W.  Erving,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  is  shown 

24 


CHESTS 

in  Figure  9.  The  upper  rail  has  the  half-circle  pattern  well  carved  ; 
the  panels  are  arched,  and  carved  with  the  feather  or  leaf  design  often 
met  with.  The  drawer-fronts  show  the  half-circle  of  the  upper  rail 
completed  and  alternated  with  smaller  circles.  The  stiles  throuorhout 
are  finished  with  groovings  simulating  mouldings,  which  are  very 
often  found  on  oak  furniture  of  all  kinds  belonging  to  this  period. 
The  dimensions  of  this  chest  are  as  follows  :  length,  50  inches  ;  width, 
19^  inches;  height,  36 >^  inches.  The  carving  indicates  that  this  is 
an  early  example  of  a  two-drawer  chest. 

About  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century  chests  were 
made  in  large  numbers  in  New  England,  and  some  originality  was 
shown  in  the  carved  designs. 


Figure  lo. 
Carved  and  Panelled  Chest  with  Two  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 


A  two-drawer  chest  owned  by  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society 
is  shown  in  Figure  10.  It  is  of  light-colored  American  oak,  tht;  top, 
bottom,  and  back  being  of  pine.  About  fifty  chests  of  this  design  have 
been  found  in  Connecticut,  some  witli  no  drawer,  others  with  one  and 
two.      The  design,  while  not  wholly  new,  is  a  combination  of  old  pat- 

25 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

terns  forming  one  somewhat  orioinal,  and  is  now  known  as  the  Con- 
necticut or  sunflower  pattern.  Some  of  the  turned  ornaments  and 
mouldings  are  missing,  but  enough  remain  to  give  a  good  idea  of 
the  appearance  of  the  chest  when  new. 


Figure  1 1. 
Carved  Oak  Chest  with  Two  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

The  Connecticut  Historical  Society  also  owns  the  chest  illustrated 
in  Figure  ii,  a  very  nice  example  of  the  all-over  carving.  The  stiles 
and  rails  show  the  familiar  tulip  border,  and  the  panels  and  drawers 
the  Connecticut  sunflower  design  somewhat  conventionalized.  This 
chest  has  the  top,  drawers,  and  back  all  of  oak,  somewhat  imusual  in 
New-Englantl-made  pieces,  but  that  it  was  made  in  New  England  is 
very  surely  indicated  by  its  design  and  the  grain  and  color  of  the  oak. 
The  wooden  knob  handles  arc  missing.  The  last  two  chests  de- 
scribed date  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Figure  12  is  a  chest  found  at  Hadley,  Massachusetts,  and  now  in 

the  Erving  collection,  known  to  collectors  as  the  "  Hadley"  chest,  for 

26 


CHESTS 

many  of  this  design  have  been  found  at  Hadley  or  In  that  neighbor- 
hood. The  vine  pattern  in  which  this  chest  is  carved  seems  to  have 
been  one  not  used  in  England,  but  was  undoubtedly  an  adaptation  of 
the  tulip  pattern  long  in  use.      Its  dimensions  are  as  follows:   length, 


1      ;' 


::^r§z 


i 


-fim 


:  ■■•*A'.  Jj^4^^ '>:4: 


^cT^^^^':' 


Figure  12. 
Carved  and  Stained  Oak  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  1690-17 10. 

42  inches;  height,  32^^  inches;  width,  19  inches.  Hadley  chests 
are  found  with  one,  two,  and  three  drawers,  and,  the  writer  has  reason 
to  think,  were  always  stained.  The  chest  here  shown  has  never 
been  tampered  with,  and  is  stained  with  the  three  colors — red,  nuil- 
berry  or  purplish  brown,  and  black,  as  follows  :  the  to[)  front  rail, 
black;  centre  rail,  brown;  bottom  rail,  black;  two  end  front  jianels, 
red;  centre  panel,  lirown  ;  drawer-front,  very  light  brown;  stiles  on 
front,  black;  on  ends,  lorown.  The  ends  are  panelled  but  not  carved; 
the  rails  are  stained  brown,  panels  black,  and  the  short  stile  sepa- 
rating the  two  upper  panels,  red. 

27 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  NM  T  U  R  E 

A  two-drawer  Hadley  chest,  also  in  the  Ervinsf  collection,  is 
shown  in  I'igure  13.  Its  dimensions  are  as  follows:  height,  44 
inches;  length,  40 '4  inches;  width,  18  inches.  When  found  this 
chest  was  covered  with  red  paint,  but  this  being  removed,  the 
original  staining  could  be  plainly  seen.  Another  chest  of  this  kind 
formerly  owned   by    Mr.    Erving,    besides    several   of   which    he    has 


Figure  13. 

Carved  and  Stained  Chest  witli  Two  Drawers,  1690-1 7 10. 

known,  a  one-drawer  chest  which  has  not  been  disturbed,  owned 
by  Miss  Esther  Bidwell,  of  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  and  the  three- 
drawer  chest  shown  in  Figure  14,  all  show  the  staining.  This  seems 
evidence  enough  to  warrant  one  in  concluding  that  the  Hadley  chests 
were  always  finished  in  this  way.  As  to  their  date.  Miss  Bidwell's 
chest  bears  the  initials  M.  S.,  for  Martha  Sheldon,  of  Hadley,  who 
married  Dr.  Ezekiel  Porter,  of  Wethersfield,  at  just  what  date  is  not 
known,  but  her  daughter,  into  whose  hands  it  came,  was  born  in  1707. 


Figure  14. 

Carved  and  Stained  Chest  with  Three  Drawers,  1690-1710. 


CHESTS 

The  chest  contained  Martha  Sheldon's  wedding  outfit,  and  dates  some- 
where near  i  too.  Mr.  Ervintr's  chest  marked  R.  D.  beloneed  to 
Rebecca  Dickenson,  of  Hadley,  who  was  married  in  1724;  but  it  is 
very  likely  that  the  chest  was  in  process  of  filling  with  her  bridal  linen 
some  years  previous  to  this.  It  seems  probable  that  the  Hadley 
chests  date  anywhere  from  1690  to  1720. 

Figure  14  shows  a  three-drawer  Hadley  chest,  preserved  at  the 
Deerfield  Museum,  which  stands  46  inches  high  and,  except  for  its 
size  and  the  number  of  its  drawers,  is  identical  with  Figures  12  and  13. 

Three-drawer  chests  are  rare,  but  the  writer  knows  of  one  other 
in  the  Hadley  pattern  owned  in  Boston,  and  two  of  other  designs. 

Hadley  chests,  as  far  as  the  writer  knows,  always  have  pine  tops, 
and  the  back  and  the  bottom  of  the  chests,  as  well  as  the  drawer- 
frames,  are  also  of  pine.  The  ends  are  panelled  but  not  carved,  and 
the  centre  front  panel  almost  invarialily  has  initials. 


« 


1 


■wjl^ 


Figure  15. 
Carved  Oak  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

A  chest  found  at  Belchertown,  Massachusetts,  and  now  owned 
b\-  the  writer,  is  shown  in  Figure  15.     A  scrutiny  of  the  design  used 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  N  n'  U  R  E 

on  this  chest  shows  it  to  be  the  Hadley  pattern,  a  httle  more  care- 
fully executed  than  usual.  The  escutcheon  which  covers  the  much- 
worn  keyhole  is  new^  and  partly  hides  the  initials  AI.  E.  The 
arrangement  of  the  panels  is  reversed,  the  centre  panel  showiny  the 
design  used  for  the  outside  panels  in  the  ordinary  Hadley  chests. 

The  custom  of  painting  the  design  on  chests  and  cupboards 
seems  to  have  prevailed  quite  extensively  late  in  the  seventeenth  and 
early  in  the  eighteenth  centuries,  perhaps  because  the  decorative  effect 
was  more  easily  and  cheaply  obtained  than  with  carving  or  inlay. 


Figure  i6. 
Painted  Chest  with  One  Drawer,  about  1700. 

A  very  interesting  example  of  a  chest,  in  the  Erving  collection, 
in  which  the  decorative  effect  is  obtained  by  painting,  is  shown  in 
Figure  16.  This  decoration  is  just  as  it  appeared  originally,  as  the 
chest  has  not  been  restored  or  tampered  with  in  any  way.  The  fine 
lacelike  pattern  suggests  inlay  rather  than  carving.  This  chest  was 
found  in  Maine. 

A  two-drawer  chest  similar  to  this,  belonging  to  Mr.  Walter 
Hosmer,  of  Wethersfield,  has  the  panels  painted  in  a  design  evidently 
in  imitation  of  carving. 

32 


CHESTS 

After  much  study  of  the  inventories  the  writer  is  convinced  that 
it  is  impossible  to  [jlace  the  date  of  a  chest  in  any  exact  year,  for  the 
records  covering  the  century  between  1633  and  1733  vary  only 
slightly  in  the  descriptions  and  valuations  given.  Practically  the 
only  way  to  determine  the  date  is  by  the  character  of  the  decoration 
used. 

The  examples  here  illustrated  represent  the  better  quality  of 
chests  in  use  during  the  seventeenth  centur)-,  because,  as  is  natural, 
only  the  best  of  the  chests  would  have  been  considered  worth  pre- 
serving. Their  values,  as  given  in  the  inventories,  vary  from  one 
shilling  to  seventy  shillings,  the  purchasing  power  of  money  being  at 
that  time  about  five  times  what  it  is  to-day.  At  Plymouth,  in  1634, 
"a  great  oak  chest  with  lock  and  key  8s";  Salem,  1644,  "4  chests 
£1,"  1673,  "a  wainscott  chest  Ss  "  ;  Plymouth,  1682,  "a  wainscot 
chest  /,^i";  Philadelphia,  1709,  "a  wainscot  chest  ^,1,"  in  the  same 
year,  "a  black  Avalnut  chest  £2  5s";  Providence,  1680,  "a  great  chest 
with  a  drawer  is";  New  York,  1697,  "  i  black  nutt  chest  with  two 
black  feet  ^2  10s";  at  Yorktown,  \'irginia,  1674,  "2  chests  £1  2s," 
1^75'  "3  chests  8s";  and  the  highest  price  noted,  at  New  York, 
1682,  "  I  chest  with  drawers  ^'3  los."  Very  man)-  chests  both 
North  and  South  inventoried  simply  as  chests  are  valued  at  from  one 
to  ten  shillings.  There  is  also  mention  in  the  inventories  of  iron- 
bound  chests,  one  at  .Salem  in  1684  valued  at  five  shillings.  The 
writer  knows  of  two  such  chests,  both  of  Norwegian  pine,  in  trunk 
shape  with  rounded  tops;  one  is  bound  with  wrought-iron  bands 
about  ft)ur  inches  wide  in  the  tulip  pattern  on  the  stiles  of  the  chest 
shown  in  Figure  11,  and  has  initials  and  the  date  1707,  also  in 
wrought-iron;  the  other  has  finely  wrought  bands  in  a  Spanish  design. 
Cedar  chests  are  noted  occasionally,  valued  at  about  thirty  shillings; 
they  were  probably  plain,  as  no  description  whatever  is  given  of  them. 

It  may  be  well  to  review  briefly  the  facts  which  we  have  ob- 
served in    connection   with   the   examples  of   chests    here  described. 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

First,  as  to  the  wood.  Most  of  the  English  chests  are  entirely  of  oak  ; 
most  of  the  American -made  ones  \ym\  the  top,  the  back,  and  the  bot- 
toms of  both  chest  and  drawers  made  of  pine.  No  unfailing  rule 
can,  however,  be  given,  for  the  writer  has  seen  chests  undoubtedly 
made  abroad  which  have  pine  used  in  their  construction,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  American  pieces  made  throughout  of  American  oak. 

The  chests  appear  to  have  been  mainly  of  three  kinds :  those 
made  with  all-over  carving ;  those  with  carved  panels,  further  deco- 
rated with  the  turned  pieces ;  and  the  panelled  ones.  There  is 
every  reason  to  think  that  the  all-over  carving  is  the  oldest,  but 
chests  of  this  style  continued  to  be  made  long  after  the  fashion 
of  adding  the  turned  ornaments  became  general.  The  carving 
on  American-made  chests  is,  as  a  rule,  very  shallow  —  what  is 
known  as  peasant-carving.  The  English  carving  is  generally  more 
in  relief  and  not  so  crude  in  execution.  The  fine  relief-carving  such 
as  is  seen  on  Continental  furniture  of  the  si.xteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  was  entirely  beyond  the  powers  of  the  American  makers. 
The  size  of  chests  varied  from  i8  inches  in  height  when  without 
drawers  to  48  inches  when  with  three  drawers.  The  length  varies 
from  about  30  to  60  inches.  They  were  almost  always  furnished 
with  a  small  compartment,  or  till,  at  one  end  near  the  top.  All  the 
oak  chests  were  made  in  the  most  substantial  manner;  the  oak  form- 
ing the  frame  and  the  sides  of  the  drawers  is  about  one  and  a  quarter 
inches  in  thickness. 

A  point  to  remember,  in  examining  pieces  for  purchase,  is  that 
the  runners  of  the  drawers  were  made  on  the  side  during  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  not  on  the  bottom,  as  was  the  rule  later.  The 
side  of  the  drawer  was  hollowed  out  in  a  line  nearly  in  the  centre,  and 
a  heavy  nmner  afifixed  to  the  side  of  the  chest. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  by  those  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject as  to  whether  most  of  the  chests  were  imported  or  made  in  this 
country.      This    must  be   decided  mainly  by  an    examination   of  the 

34 


CHESTS 

woods.  The  English  oak  used  is  of  two  varieties,  live-oak  and 
swamp-oak  —  the  former  of  a  rich  brown  color  and  fine-grained  ;  the 
swamp-oak  with  a  long  grain  much  like  the  American  ash,  and  tend- 
ing to  flake  with  the  grain,  as  does  the  ash.  The  American  white- 
oak  is  a  rich  golden  brown  with  a  coarser  grain,  which  in  the  quarter 
is  so  highly  figured  as  to  distinguish  it  at  once  from  the  English  live- 
oak.  It  keeps  its  rich  golden  color  with  age,  while  the  English 
grows  darker  without  the  golden  tinge.  American  oak,  however, 
when  exposed  to  the  weather  loses  much  of  its  golden  color,  and  it  is 
by  no  means  easy  to  distinguish  it  from  English  oak  which  has  been 
subjected  to  the  same  conditions. 

Chests  continued  to  be  mentioned  in  the  inventories  until  the 
last  of  the  eighteenth  century;  after  1710  they  are  frequently  referred 
to  as  "old."  They  probably  ceased  to  be  made  to  any  extent 
after   1730. 


35 


1 1  I 

CHESTS     OF     DRAWERS 

A  FEW  chests  of  drawers  are  mentioned  in  the  earhest  New 
England  records:  one  at  Plymouth  in  1642  valued  at  ^i  ; 
I  one  in  1643  valued  at  £2  10s.;  one  at  Salem  in  1666  valued 
at  £2  I  OS.;  one  at  New  York  in  1669  valued  at  £1  6s.  ;  and  at  Phila- 
delphia in  1685  "a  chest  drawers  oake  ^,"1  "  —  which  are  very  high 
\aluations  when  compared  with  the  other  articles  in  the  same  in- 
ventories. The  York  County,  Virginia,  records  between  the  jears 
16^3  and  1693  mention  only  a  very  small  number  of  chests  of 
drawers,  and  most  of  these  valued  at  l)ut  eight  to  ten  shillings ;  but 
the  expression  "  cupboard  of  drawers "  is  used  perhaps  to  describe 
the  same  thing,  and  these  are  valued  higher.  In  1674  "a  cupboard 
of  drawers  £\   los"  is  mentioned  at  Yorktown,  Mrginia. 

These  chests  of  drawers  were  similar  in  appearance  and  work- 
manship to  the  chests  of  this  same  time.  They  were  generally  made 
of  oak  trimmed  with  other  woods,  carved,  panelled,  and  ornamented 
with  turned  pieces.  The  handles  are  sometimes  wooden  knobs  and 
sometimes  iron  or  brass  tear-drop  handles  ;  variously  shaped  plates  of 
the  metal  were  fastened  to  the  drawer,  and  through  this  passed  the 
hea\)-  wire,  which  held  the  drop  by  being  bent  at  right  angles  against 
the  inside  of  the  drawers.  How  early  brasses  were  used  it  is  impos- 
sible to  say,  but  there  is  an  item  in  a  New  York  inventory  taken  in 
1692  of  the  estate  of  a  storekeeper  which  mentions  "  12  doz. 
wrought  escutcheons,  5  >_>  doz.  filed  and  brasse  handles."     We  believe 

36 


CHESTS     OF     DRAWERS 

them  to  have  been    in  use  as  early  as    1675,  for  the  high   chests  of 
drawers  dating  as  early  as  this  had  the  brass  drop  handles. 


i 


Figure  17. 
Carved  Oak  Chest  of  Drawers,  latter  half  seventeenth  centur) . 


Figure  17  shows  a  fine  example  of  a  carved  chest  of  drawers  in 
the  Erving  collection.  It  is  made  throughout  of  American  oak,  the 
back  being  panelled  and  framed.  The  carving  will  be  recognized  as 
the  scroll  design  used  so  extensively  on  chests.  The  turned  orna- 
ments beloncrinsf  in  the  centre  of  the  first  and  fourth  drawers  are 
missing,  the  piece  never  having  been  restored.  There  is  also  indica- 
tion of  a  bracket-shaped  piece  having  been  originally  added  at  the 
centre   of  the  bottom   rail,  which   perhaps   bore   a   date.      The   back- 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

ground  of  the  carving  on  the  face  of  the  drawers  and  the  incised 
moulding  at  the  top  show  plainly  traces  of  having  been  painted  black. 
The  turned  ornaments  and  feet  are  also  black.  The  moulding  which 
appears  to  divide  the  piece  between  the  second  and  third  drawers 
does  not  really  do  so,  although  this  is  often  the  case  in  chests  of 
drawers  which  have  four  drawers.  The  dimensions  of  this  piece  are 
as  follows  :  height,  49  inches  ;  width  of  front,  42  inches  ;  width  of  end, 
21  >^  inches  ;   size  of  top,  which  overhangs,  44  >i  inches  by  2  2>^  inches. 


Figure  18. 

Panelled  Chest  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

Figure  18  shows  a  panelled  chest  of  drawers  having  the  out- 
standing moulding  and  ball  feet.  The  form  of  the  chest  with  drawers 
is  suggested  by  the  width  of  the  second  drawer.  The  drawer-fronts 
are  walnut,  the  main  frame  oak.  Such  a  piece  as  this  was  perhaps 
described  at  New  York  in  1696  as  "a  chest  of  draws  with  balls  at 
the  feet  ^i   i6s." 

Figure  19  shows  a  panelled  chest  of  drawers  in  which  the  mould- 
ings are  of  cedar.  The  feet  are  simpl)-  the  continuation  of  the  stiies, 
but  having  a  foot  like  that  in  Figure  17  split  and  applied. 

38 


CHESTS     OF     D  R  A  W'  E  R  S 

A  panelled  chest  of  drawers  owned  b)  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society  is  shown  in  Figure  20.  The  reader  will  recognize  its 
marked  similarity  to  the  panelled  cupboard  shown  in  Figure  62.      The 


Figure  19. 

Panelled  and  Carved  Chest  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

straight  square  feet  are  recent  additions,  for  the  outstanding  moulding 
which  finishes  the  front  and  ends  at  the  bottom  indicates  the  ball  foot, 
and  if  the  piece  had  originally  had  straight  feet  they  would  have  been 
of  the  same  width  as  the  stiles  and  a  continuation  ot  them.  The 
nK)uldings  on  the  third  drawer  have  not  been  properly  restored,  as 
the  V  shape  shown  at  the  centre  should  have  been  reproduced  on  the 
outer  edges.  The  handles  are  also  new ;  such  pieces  usually  had 
wooden  knob  handles. 

We  now^  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  high  chests  of  draw^ers 
commonly  known  as  high-boys,  though  this  name  is  never  used  in  the 
records,  and  probably  w-as  given  in  derision  after  their  appearance 
had  become  grotesque  to  eyes  trained  to  other  fashions. 

The  introduction  of  these  chests  of  drawers  on  high  legs  or 
frames  marks  the  time  when  the  character  of  construction  was 
changed,   and  from  that  period  the   use  of  oak  was  gradually   dis- 

39 


C  O  L  O  N  I  A  L     ¥  U  R  N  I  T  I'  R  E 

continued,  and  the  massive  style  seen  in  the  chests  and  early  chests 
of  drawers  was  no  longer  followed. 

Just  when  the  high  chests  of  drawers  came  into  fashion  cannot 
be  determined  exactly.  The  only  records  which  could  show  this  are 
the  inventories,  and  they  cannot  be  depended  upon  for  placing  the 
date  when  a  new  style  came  into  use,  for  an  article  may  have  been  in 
use  for  a  number  of  years  before  it  was  spoken  of  in  a  will  or  inven- 
tory. Ten  years  may  safely  be  deducted  from  the  hrst  inventory 
mention  to  obtain  the  date  when  the  fashion  changed.  Such  a  radi- 
cal change  as  that  from  the  low  oaken  chest  of  drawers  to  chests  of 
drawers  on  high  frames  would  seem  to  call  for  special  mention  in 
recording  them,  but  this  is  seldom  the  case.  There  are,  however, 
two  new  expressions  used  in  connection  with  the  chests  of  drawers 
which  indicate  that  a  change  had  taken  place.  The  first  of  these  is 
"a  chest  of  drawers  on  a  frame,"  first  met  with  in  New  York  in  1689, 
the  cost  price  being  given  as  /,"4  16s.  The  second  expression  referred 
to  is  "chest  of  drawers  and  table."  As  both  chests  of  drawers  and 
tables  had  very  frequently  been  mentioned  separately  up  to  the  last 
quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  very  common  use  of  the 
expression  "chest  of  drawers  and  table"  as  one  item  denotes  that 
they  bore  some  relation  to  each  other,  which  had  not  previously  been 
the  case.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  "  chest  oi  drawers  and  table  " 
were  a  high  chest  of  drawers  and  dressing-table,  or,  in  other  words,  a 
high-boy  and  a  low-boy.  In  the  New  York  records  the  expression 
"  chest  of  drawers  and  table  "  does  not  occur  as  one  item,  but  during 
the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century  man)-  of  the  chests  of  draw- 
ers inventoried  are  immediately  preceded  or  followed  by  a  table, 
and  when  the  wood  of  which  the  chest  is  made  is  mentioned, 
the  table  is  invariably  the  same  wood.  The  first  mention  of  this  kind 
is  in  the  inventory  of  Dom  Nicolas  Van  Rensselaer,  January  16, 
1678,  in  which  a  chest  of  drawers  of  nutwood,  followed  by  a  table  of 

the  same  wood,  are  valued  at  60  guilders  (about  /,'5  in  English  money). 

40 


Figure  20. 

Panelled  Chest  of  Urawt-rs,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 


4' 


CHESTS     O  I-      DRAWERS 

Another  entr)-  in  i6S6  is  "a  wallnut  table  ^"i,  15s,  a  chest  of  drawers 
walhiut  ^3."  The  facts  here  shown  and  the  high  valuations  indi- 
cate that  these  items  refer  to  hitrh  chests  of  drawers  and  dressine- 
tables.  The  first  mention  of  the  chest  of  drawers  and  table  is  at  Phila- 
delphia in  16S4:  "chest  of  drawers  and  table  ^8."  Both  of  these 
values  are  much  above  those  of  any  chests  of  drawers  previously  men- 
tioned, and  this  fact  further  indicates  the  change  of  style.  In  view 
of  these  facts  we  have  no  hesitation  in  naming  the  year  1675  as 
the  date  when  the  high  chests  of  drawers  were  known  in  the 
colonies. 

The  frames  upon  which  these  chests  of  drawers  were  raised  are 
of  two  varieties.  The  first  has  six  turned  legs,  four  in  front  and 
two  in  back,  joined  b)'  heavy  stretchers  near  the  floor.  The  second 
has  four  cabriole  or  bandy  legs  without  stretchers  or  bracing. 
There  has  been  some  question  as  to  which  style  was  the  older,  but 
the  one  fact  that  the  first  variety  has  the  heavy  bracing  characteristic 
of  all  seventeenth-century  furniture  points  very  forcibly  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  this  heavy  frame  appeared  before  the  lighter  one.  The  six- 
legfofed  frames  of  the  chests  of  drawers,  and  the  four-lesfSed  frames 
with  the  bracings  crossing  at  the  centre  of  the  accompanying  dressing- 
tables,  are  Italian  in  style,  for  there  are  many  examples  of  Italian 
cabinets,  tables,  and  chairs  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries 
which  show  this  bracing.  The  cabriole  leg  .seems  to  have  originated 
in  Holland. 

The  relation  of  the  chest  of  drawers  on  a  frame  to  the  chest  with 
drawers  of  the  period  preceding  is  very  interesting  to  note.  That 
one  was  developed  from  the  other  there  are  many  reasons  for  believ- 
ing, though  the  frame  was  an  entirely  new  feature,  so  far  as  we  know, 
never  suggested  in  any  chest.  The  three-drawer  chest  in  the  Bolles 
collection,  which  is  described  on  page  23,  probably  represents  the 
latest  development  of  the  chest  with  drawers.  A  comparison  of  this 
with  a  chest  of  drawers  on  a  frame,  also  in  the  Bolles  collection,  shows 

43 


C  O  L  O  NM  A  L     I-  I'  R  X  I  T  L'  R  E 

them  to  have  many  points  in  common.  This  chest  of  drawers  on  a 
frame  has  five  drawers  on  side  runners  in  the  upper  part,  each  sur- 
rounded with  the  wide  moulding,  as  are  the  drawers  in  the  chest ;  the 
ends  are  panelled  with  a  long  panel  also  like  the  chest,  and  the  handles 
are  the  brass  drops  also  on  that  chest.  The  frame  is  quite  low,  and  the 
chest  of  drawers  sets  into  it,  and  is  supported  by  a  heavy  outstanding 
moulding.  The  frame  contains  two  narrow  drawers  which  have  one 
runner  on  the  side  and  one  on  the  bottom.  These  small  drawers  are 
surrounded  with  a  moulding  like  that  of  the  small  drawers  in  the  chest 
shown  in  Figure  7.  The  legs,  six  in  number,  are  turned  after  the 
ofeneral  fashion  of  those  shown  in  Figures  21  and  22,  and  the  stretchers 
are  also  similar.  This  chest  of  drawers,  when  found,  showed  the  pres- 
ence of  black  and  red  paint  on  drawer-fronts  and  mouldings,  another 
point  of  resemblance  to  the  chests.  The  writer  is  convinced  that 
this  is  the  link  between  the  chest  of  drawers  and  the  chest  of 
drawers  on  a  frame  which  superseded  it. 

As  the  high  chest  of  drawers  developed  it  gradually  lost  its 
points  of  resemblance  to  the  chest.  The  mouldings,  while  retaining 
the  general  form,  were  made  narrower,  the  drawers  did  not  run  on 
side  runners,  and  the  ends  were  not  panelled.  The  transition  piece 
above  described  is  the  only  one  of  its  kind  which  is  known  to  the 
writer,  and  practically  the  oldest  form  of  high  chests  of  drawers  is 
shown  in  Figure  21,  an  exceedingly  interesting  specimen  from  the 
Erving  collection  of  a  chest  of  drawers  decorated  with  fine  Dutch 
marquetr)-,  which  was  found  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  The 
framework  of  this  piece  is  oak,  except  the  legs  and  stretchers,  which 
are  maple ;  and  this,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the  marquetry  is  of  a 
very  high  order,  makes  sure  its  Holland  origin,  Holland  during  the 
last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  ha\ing  been  specially  noted  for  fine 
marquetry  of  this  kind.  The  beautifiilly  executed  designs  of  binls 
and  flowers  in  colors  extend  not  only  around  the  sides  but  on  the  top. 
The  moulding  about  the  drawers  is  what  we  shall  designate  as  single- 

44 


•raAJ  .?.JI37/A^a   ho   T23H0    HOIH   YHT-dUQUAU    HDTUa 

.YHUTVI3D  HTviasTviavaa  aSTHAUp 


DUTCH    MARQUETRY    HIGH    CHEST   OF   DRAWERS,  LAST 

QUARTER    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY. 

(^Figure  zj.) 


CHESTS     OF     DRAWERS 

arch  moulding,  which,  as  has  been  said,  is  hl<e  that  found  on  pan- 
elled chests,  except  that  it  is  somewhat  narrower.  The  narrow 
cornice  finishing  the  top,  the  single    drawer   in   the  table   or    frame 


Figure  22. 
High  Chest  of  Drawers,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

part,  the  simple  arch  between  the  legs,  and  the  drop  brasses,  are  all 
characteristic  of  the  earliest  high  chests  of  drawers.  The  stretchers 
are  new  and  incorrect ;  they  should  invariably  follow  the  curve  with 
which  the  frame  is  finished.  The  brasses  on  this  piece,  though  not 
the  original,  were  taken  from  a  very  early  high  chest  of  drawers. 
The  dimensions  of  this  piece  are  as  follows:   total  height,  59  inches; 

45 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

upper  part,  31  inches;   lower  part,  28  inches;   width  of  upper  part,  38 
inches;   width  of  lower  part,  40  inches;   depth,  23  inches. 

Figure  22,  also  from  the  Erving  collection,  is  a  sycamore  chest  of 
drawers  probably  of  American  manufacture.  The  stretchers  in  this 
piece  are  original,  as  are  also  the  fine  drop  handles.  The  mouldings, 
cornice,  arrangement  of  drawers,  and  arches  between  the  legs  are 
identical  with  the  imported  piece  above  described.  We  believe  these 
chests  of  drawers  to  be  such  as  were  referred  to  in  the  inventories 
already  quoted  dated  1678  and  1684.  The  dimensions  of  this  piece 
are  as  follows:  total  height,  65  inches;  upper  part,  35  >^  inches; 
lower  part,  29)^  inches;  width  of  upper  part,  36)4^  inches;  lower 
part,  39  inches  ;   depth,  2  i  inches. 


Figure  23. 
Walnut  Dressing-table  (not  restored),  about  1700. 

A  dressing-table  or  low-boy  having  the  single-arch  moulding 
and  the  legs  of  an  early  pattern  is  shown  in  Figure  23.  The  arches 
between  the  legs  show  the  double  ogee  curve  instead  of  the  single 
arch.  Dressing-tables  of  this  kind  are  almost  always  of  walnut  ve- 
neered on  white  wood  or  pine,  and  are  exceedingly  well  made.  The 
top  is  veneered  in  four  rectangular  sections,  fitted  to  show  the  grain 
to  the  best   advantage,   bordered  with    a   strip  two   inches    in    width 

46 


Figure  24. 

High  Chest  of  Drawers,  1710-20. 

(Stretchers  new  ami  incorrect.) 


47 


C  H  E  S  T  S     ()  ¥     D  R  A  W  E  R  S 

showing  the  straight  grain  ;  between  this  border  and  the  inside  is  a 
strip  an  inch  wide  in  feathering  or  herring-bone,  formed  b\-  joining 
two  half-inch  strips,  the  grain  running  at  right  angles.  The  fronts 
of  the  drawers  are  also  finished  with  the  feathering.  The  legs  and 
stretchers  are  often  made  of  maple  or  heech.  This  dressing-table 
has  not  been  restored,  as  will  readily  be  seen,  and  the  drops  below 
the  arches  and  the  little  turned  ornament  at  the  centre  of  the  bracing 
where  the  stretchers  cross  are  missing.  The  narrow  bead-moulding 
which  borders  the  arches  of  the  frame  is  always  found  on  the  chests  of 
drawers  and  dressing-tables  of  the  turned-legged  variety. 

Figure  24  shows  a  chest  of  drawers  of  white  wood  l)elonging  to 
Mr.  William  Meeffat,  of  W'ethersfield,  Connecticut,  of  somewhat  later 
date  than  Figures  21  and  22.  This  is  indicated  in  several  ways. 
First,  the  single-arch  moulding  is  divided,  thus  forming  a  double  arch, 
which  for  convenience  we  shall  speak  of  as  a  double  moulding.  The 
cornice  at  the  top  is  wider,  and  a  moulding  containing  a  drawer  has 
been  added  below  it.  The  table  part  has  three  drawers,  and  the  sim- 
ple arch  between  the  legs  has  become  the  double  ogee  in  form.  The 
drop  handles  are  replaced  by  an  early  form  of  bail  handle,  the  plates 
of  which,  if  compared  with  the  plates  on  Figure  22,  will  show  them  to 
have  been  developed  from  brasses  of  that  kind.  These  bail  handles  are 
fastened,  like  the  drops,  with  wires,  which  pass  through  the  plate  and 
are  bent  against  the  inside  of  the  drawer.  The  stretchers  are  new 
and  should  conform  to  the  curves  of  the  frame. 

A  dressing-table  belonging  to  the  writer,  differing  from  Figure 
23  only  in  tliat  it  has  the  double  moulding,  is  shown  in  Figure  25. 
This  still  retains  the  drop  handles,  and  denotes  the  fact  that  the  drop 
was  used  with  the  double  moulding. 

Figure  26  shows  a  chest  of  tlrawers  in  the  author's  possession 
which  does  not  differ  materially  from  that  shown  in  Figure  24,  the 
principal  difference  being  that  the  table  part  is  considerably  deeper 
and  contains  five  instead  of  three  drawers.      The  dimensions  are  as 

49 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

follows:  total  height,  69 ^l  inches;  upper  part,  32  inches;  lower  part, 
S7/4  inches;  width  of  upper  part,  36  inches;  width  of  lower  part, 
38 >^  inches.  The  stretcher  across  the  back,  which  is  new,  should  be 
straight. 


Figure  25. 

Walnut  Dressing-table,  about  17 10. 

The  chests  ot  drawers  with  turned  legs  were  made  of  many  vari- 
eties of  wood,  most  often  of  walnut  and  white  wood;  they  were  also 
japanned,  that  is,  finished  with  several  coats  of  specially  prepared 
varnish,  overlaid  with  figures  of  flowers  and  animals  in  bright  colors, 
silver,  and  gold.  One  finished  in  this  way  belongs  to  Mr.  Walter 
Hosmer.  The  frames  of  both  the  chests  of  drawers  and  dressing- 
tables  sometimes  had  five  instead  of  six  legs,  thus  bringing  one  in  the 
centre  of  the  front.  Dressing-tables  are  also  occasionally  found  with 
a  fifth  foot  where  the  stretchers  cross.     The  dressing-tables  sometimes 

50 


Figure  26. 
High  Chest  of  Drawers,  1710-20. 


CHESTS     OF     D  R  A  W  E  R  S 

luul  stone  or  slate  tops;  five  of  these  are  mentioned  at  Boston  between 
the  years  1693  and  1719,  vahied  at  about  ^1.  They  are  now  very 
scarce,  only  two  being  known  to  the  writer,  one  belonging  to  the  BoUes 
collection,  the  other  to  Mr.  William  G.  Boardman,  of  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut. The  slate  top  in  the  one  belonging  to  Mr.  Boardman  is  set 
into  a  border  of  marquetry  about  five  inches  in  width.  Except  for 
the  top,  this  dressing-table  is  very  similar  to  Figure  25.  The  handles 
are  the  hollow  drops,  and  these,  as  well  as  the  outlines  of  the  drawers, 
appear  also  on  the  back. 

Some  of  the  inventory  items  which  probably  refer  to  the  styles  so 
far  considered  are  as  follows:  Philadelphia,  1684,  "a  chest  of  draw- 
ers and  table  ^8";  New  York,  1685,  "  a  chest  of  drawers  black  walnut 
£2," ;  1705,  "a  fine  chest  of  drawers  of  walnut  and  olive  wood  ^15"  ; 
Boston,  1709,  "a  chest  of  drawers  and  table  £^"  \  171 1,  "chest  of 
drawers  and  table  ^8";  171 5,  "a  black  Japanned  chest  of  drawers, 
table  and  dressing  boxes  ^'3  15s";  Philadelphia,  1720,  "a  pair 
chest  of  drawers  and  table  walnut  £6,"  "  a  cedar  chest  of  drawers  and 
table  £g  los,"  "chest  of  drawers  and  slate  table  ^5."  The  Virginia 
records  before  1700  do  not  indicate  in  an)'  definite  way  that  the  high 
chests  of  drawers  were  in  use  there  ;  but  the  writer  knows  of  two  of 
the  turned-legged  dressing-tables  which  were  found  in  the  South,  and 
the  accompanying  high  chests  of  drawers  were  probably  known  to 
some  extent.  The  first  inventory  entry  which  seems  to  point  with 
any  certainty  to  such  pieces  is  at  Yorktown  in  1711  :  "One  chest  of 
draws  and  a  small  table  with  a  draw,  ot  I'rench  walnut  ^,3." 

The  types  of  handles  which  were  used  on  the  chests  of  drawers  with 
turned  legs  are  shown  in  I'igure  27.  The  first,  known  as  drop  handles, 
had  the  drops  both  solid  and  hollow,  the  latter  ha\ing  the  appearance 
of  being  cut  in  two.  The  plates  and  escutcheons  are  in  many  shapes, 
some  being  round,  with  the  edges  pierced,  others  shield  shape. 
These  drop  brasses  we  will  call  handles  of  the  b'irst  Period.  The 
second  style  has  a  bail  handle  fastened  with  bent  wires,  and  the  plates 

53 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

are  generally  the  shape  of  those  shown,  but  not  always  engraved. 
The  drop  handle  is  the  older,  and  is  sometimes  found  on  chests  in 
both  iron  and  brass.  These  brasses  with  bail  handles  held  by  bent 
wire  we  will   call   handles  of  the  Second  Period. 


Figure  27. 
Handles  and  Escutcheons,  First  and  Second  Periods,  1675-1720. 

The  earliest  specimens  of  the  cabriole-legged  high  chests  of 
drawers  have  many  points  in  common  with  the  six-legged  variety.  The 
arrangement  of  drawers  in  both  the  upper  and  lower  part  is  sometimes 
like  that  in  Mgure  24.  The  writer  has,  however,  never  heard  of  a 
piece  which  had  but  a  single  drawer  in  the  table  part.  The  double- 
arch  moulding  and  the  etched  brass  handles,  like  the  second  variety 
shown  in  Figure  27,  are  sometimes  used,  and  the  curves  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  frame  are  finished  with  a  fine  bead-moulding.  The  wood, 
also,  is  quite  often  walnut,  and  sometimes  veneered,  as  in  the  dressing- 
tables  described  above.  There  was,  however,  as  far  as  the  writer  can 
ascertain,  no  bandy-legged  high-boy  having  the  single-arch  moulding 
and  the  drop  brasses,  which  were  survivals  of  the  period  preced- 
ing that  which  developed  the  high  chests  of  drawers  ;  and  this  fact, 
together  with  that  already  alluded  to  as  to  the  construction  of  the 
frame,  make  it  appear  more  than  likel)-  that  the  six-legged  chests  of 
drawers  somewhat  preceded  the  cabriole  ones. 

Figure  28  shows  a  maple  chest  of  drawers  foiuid  in  Connecticut  and 
belonging  to  the  writer,  which  is  literall)-  a  chest  of  drawers  on  frame, 
there  being  no  drawers  in  the  table  i)art.      It  has  marks  of  an  early 

54 


C  H  E  S  T  S      O  I^^      D  R  A  W  E  R  S 

date  in  that  the  cornice  at  the  top  is  narrow  and  has  two  short  draw- 
ers below  it ;  the  handles  are  similar  to  those  on  Figure  26,  and  are 
fastened   with    wires;    the   drawers,   however,   instead   of  havine   the 


Figure  28. 

Cabriole-legged  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  1710-20. 

double  mouldings  about  them,  are  overlapping,  which  was  the  style 
next  following  the  heavy  mouldings,  and  the  double  moulding,  appar- 
ently without  reason,  appears  on  the  top  of  the  sides  of  the  drawers. 
There  is  no  way  of  determining  how  early  a  piece  of  this  kind  was 
made,  but  that  it  could  have  been  made  as  early  as  i  710  is  certain. 

55 


COLONIAL     1-  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

A  dressing-table  of  walnut  veneered  on  white  wood  in  much  the 
same  way  as  that  shown  in  Figure  25,  is  shown  in  figure  29.  The 
moulding  is  of  a  kind  which  occurs  on  both  the  turned-legged  and  the 
cabriole-legged  chests  of  drawers,  and  is  formed  by  bordering  an  applied 


Figure  29. 

Walnut  and  Inlay  Cabriole-legged  Dressing-table,  1720-30. 

Strip  about  half  an  inch  wide  with  a  bead-moulding.  This  is  some- 
times known  as  a  canal-moulding.  The  opinion  is  held  by  many 
that  it  is  this  moulding  which  was  used  on  the  mahogany  block-front 
pieces  ;  but  a  careful  examination  of  the  latter  shows  that  while  the 
effect  obtained  is  much  the  same,  the  fact  is  that  the  extra  strip  is 
applied  to  the  frame  when  the  canal-moulding  is  used,  and  no  such 
strip  is  used  on  the  block-front  pieces.  On  the  block-front  pieces  the 
narrow  rail  running  between  the  drawers  when  bordered  with  the 
bead-moulding  gives  much  this  same  effect,  but  at  the  ends  ot  the 
drawers,  where  the  beading  appears  only  single,  the  difference  is 
plainly  shown.  The  handles  belonging  to  this  dressing-table  are 
small,  of  the  willow  pattern,  etched  and  fastened  with  screw-bolts.  This 
beautiful  little  piece  was  found  in  Vermont,  and  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat. 
The  common  form  of  the  flat-topped  bandy-legged  high-boy  is 

56 


Figure  30. 

Cabriole-legged  High  Chest  of  Drawers  with  Steps 
for  China,  about  1730. 


57 


CHESTS     OF     DRAWERS 

made  of  cherry,  maple,  or  walnut,  and  is  taller  by  six  or  eight  inches 
than  the  chests  of  drawers  hitherto  shown.  The  upper  and  lower 
parts  are  made  separate,  the  upper  fitting  into  the  lower  and  held 
firm  by  a  moulding.  The  chest  of  drawers  proper  has  usually  four 
drawers,  graduating  in  size  from  seven  to  four  inches  in  width  ;  the 
section  above  the  fourth  drawer  is  divided  commonly  into  five  drawers, 
a  deep  one  ornamented  with  the  rising  sun,  with  the  space  each  side 
of  this  equally  divided  into  two  small  drawers.  The  table  part  has  a 
drawer  running  all  the  way  across  the  top,  and  under  this  three  deep 
drawers,  the  centre  one  also  having  the  rising  sun.  The  handles  are 
medium-sized  willow  pattern  fastened  with  screw-bolts.  The  large 
majority  of  low -boys  offered  for  sale  are  the  lower  or  table  part  of 
high-boys,  and  can  be  distinguished  from  the  dressing-table  proper 
by  their  height  and  the  much  more  substantial  make  of  the  leg.  The 
genuine  low-boy  seldom  measures  over  34  inches  in  height ;  the 
high-boy  tables  average  about  38  inches.  The  little  low-boys  are 
very  light  and  graceful  in  appearance,  and  to  the  trained  eye  easily 
distinguished  from  the  pieces  made  by  supplying  a  top  to  the  high- 
boy table.  It  may  also  be  added  that  when  they  are  thus  separated 
the  chest  of  drawers  is  often  finished  with  feet  and  offered  for  sale  as 
a  colonial  bureau. 

Figure  30  shows  a  conventional  flat-top  high-boy.  The  steps, 
such  as  are  shown  on  top  of  this  piece,  were  often  used  to  display 
china  when  the  chest  of  drawers  was  used  in  the  dining-  or  living- 
room.  A  Boston  inventory  of  1713  mentions  earthenware  on  top  of 
the  chest  of  drawers. 

A  high  chest  of  drawers  of  walnut  which  combines  to  a  very  un- 
usual degree  the  characteristics  of  different  periods  is  shown  in  Figure 
3  I  (frontispiece).  The  features  which  point  to  its  early  date  are  the 
double-arch  moulding,  the  cornice  drawer,  and  the  two  short  drawers 
just  beneath,  while  the  blocking  of  the  drawers,  the  fluting  at  the 
corners,  and  the  ball-and-claw  feet  are  features  which  would  make  it 


COLONIAL     ¥  V  R  X  I  T  U  R  E 

appear  to  be  of  a  much  later  date.  The  wooden  handles  are,  of  course, 
recent  additions,  and  the  brass  binding'  about  the  keyholes  was 
probably  added  at  the  same  time.  The  loss  of  the  orijjinal  handles 
removes  one  of  the  most  valuable  indications  of  its  date.  One 
escutcheon,  however,  remains.  It  is  a  small  plain  plate,  and  the 
original  bolt-holes  show  the  handles  to  have  been  about  two  inches 
in  width.  It  is  quite  possible  that  such  a  piece  as  this  could  have 
been  made  very  late  to  satisfy  the  taste  of  some  individual  without 
regard  to  the  combination  of  early  and  late  characteristics,  but  the 
burden  of  evidence  seems  to  be  thrown  on  the  side  of  an  earlier 
date  than  has  ever  been  associated  with  block-front  pieces,  and 
our  opinion  is  that  this  very  interesting  chest  of  drawers,  which  is 
in  the  collection  of  Mr.  C.  L.  Pendleton,  of  Providence,  was  made 
before   the  year   1750. 

Somewhere  between  the  years  17 10  and  1730  the  flat  top  was 
superseded  b\-  the  swan-neck  or  broken-arch  cornice.  This  does 
not  mean  that  after  this  time  no  flat  tops  were  made  ;  being  much 
more  simple  to  make,  they  probably  continued  to  be  made  for  years. 
We  name  these  dates  because  the  broken  arch  is  never  found  with 
either  of  the  early  forms  of  moulding  or  with  handles  fastened  with 
wires,  both  of  which  were  probably  used  as  late  as  1710  and  1730, 
because  at  this  time  the  broken  arch  was  freely  used  in  architectural 
designs  in  England  and  the  colonies,  although  previous  to  this  time  it 
had  been  plainly  suggested  on  some  of  the  wainscot  pieces.  (See 
Figures  91  and  167.)  There  is  at  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  a  house 
which  belonged  to  Dr.  Ezekiel  Porter,  which  was  furnished  about  the 
year  1 730 ;  the  sleeping-rooms  were  each  supplied  with  a  chest  of 
drawers  and  a  dressing-table,  and  all  of  the  five  chests  of  drawers 
have  the  broken -arch  cornice. 

One    of   these   chests   of  drawers,  which    now    belongs  to    Miss 

Esther  Bidwell,  is  shown  in  P""igure  32.      The  wood  is  cherry,  and  the 

construction   e.xactly   like    its    flat-top    predecessor,    except   that    the 

60 


CHESTS     OF     DRAWERS 

curved  moulding  leaves  space  for  l)ut  one  narrow  drawer  each  side  of 
tlie  square  drawer  at  the  top.  The  torch  ornaments  are  characteristic 
of  this  finish.      The  wooden  drops,  whicli  were  probably  the  survival 


Figure  32. 
Scroll-top  High  Chest  of  Drawers,  1 730-40. 


of  the  two  inside  legs  on  the  six-legged  form  of  the-  high  chests  of 
drawers,  and  wliich  appear  on  the  flat-top  pieces,  are  done  away. 
The  brass  handles,  similar  in  form  to  those  on  Figure  30,  are  some- 
what larger,  and  this  increase  in  the  size  t)f  the  handles  is  an  indica- 

61 


C  O  L  O  N  I  A  L     F  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

tion  of  a  later  date.  The  willow  brasses  of  the  earliest  patterns  are 
very  small,  measuring  about  two  inches  in  length  by  one  and  a 
quarter  inches  in  width,  while  those  used  on  pieces  made  after  i  760 
are  often  as  large  as  five  inches  in  length  by  three  inches  in  width. 


Figure  33. 

Dutch  Cupboard,  1730-40. 

Figure  ^^  shows  a  Dutch  cupboard,  also  owned  by  Miss  Bidwell, 

having  the  chest  of  drawers  replaced  by  a  cupboard  which  is  furnished 

with    shelves.      One    small   drawer  may  be    seen   in   the  cornice  just 

below  the  centre  ornament.     These  cupboard-top  pieces  are  not  at 

all  common. 

62 


CHESTS     OF     DRAWERS 

Figure  34  is  a  dressing-table  belonging  to  one  of  the  high 
chests  owned  by  Miss  Bidwell.  It  shows  almost  the  lines  of  the  cup- 
board just  spoken  of  and  may  have  belonged  with  it.  The  early 
dressing-tables    had    but    three    drawers,  as    the    high  curve    at  the 


Figure  34. 

Dressing-table,  1 730-40. 

centre  only  admitted  of  one  narrow  drawer  above  it.  The  common 
form  of  dressing-table  made  after  about  i  730  is  shown  in  this  illus- 
tration. The  high  curve  at  the  centre  is  omitted  and  a  long  drawer 
added  across  the  top.  The  centre  drawer  was  not  always  square  or 
oblong,  but  sometimes  rounded  at  the  top  and  sometimes  arched  at 
both  top  and  bottom. 

As  the  centur)-  advanced  the  elaborateness  with  which  the  chests 
of  drawers  and  dressing-tables  were  made  increased.  The  legs  were 
carved  with  a  shell  at  the  knee,  and  a  ball-and-claw  or  web  foot  was 
used.  The  centre  drawer  dropped  the  rising  sun  ami  was  carved  in 
various  ways,  and  the  corners  were  often  ornamented  with  a  tinted 
half-column. 

The  wooden  drops,  as  we  have  seen,  were  not  used  to  any 
extent    after    the    scroll    top    was    added,    and    the    simple    bracket 

63 


COLONIAL     FUR  N  I  T  U  R  E 

curve   which   distinguished   the   early   styles   was   replaced    by   many 
ingenious  patterns. 

Figure    35    shows   one  of  these   more  elaborate  dressing-tables, 
with    fluted    columns    and   shell    carvinsj,   belonoin*'-    to    Mr.  INIeeeat. 


1 


Figure  35. 
Dressing-table,  1760-70. 

The  rail  just  below  the  top  in  the  most  ornate  dressing-tables  was 
carved  in  rococo  or  Chinese  styles. 

The  dressing-tables  were  usually  furnished  with  dressing-boxes 
havini,^  a  mirror  attached.  One  is  mentioned  in  Boston  in  1715,  in 
connection  with  a  dressing-table,  as  "black  japanned  table  and 
dressing-box  ^'i  5s."  It  is  a  strange  fact  that  although  these  are 
mentioned  so  frecjuently  as  to  lead  us  to  suppose  that  they  must  ha\e 
been  very  common,  only  a  \ery  few  of  those  belonging  to  pieces 
previous  to  i  7S0  can  now  be  found. 

One  of  these  dressing-boxes,  beautitull\-  japanned,  is  shown  in 
Figure  36.      It  dates  from  1760  to  1780. 

Figure  ;^y  shows  a  double  chest  ot  drawers,  sometimes  called  a 
chest  on  chest,  which  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat.       The  cornice  is  almost 

64 


I'lijuic  37. 

Double  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1740. 


65 


CHESTS     OF     DRAWERS 

identical  with  that  of  the  high-boy  shown  in  Figure  32.  The  wood 
is  cherry  and  the  drawers  overlap.  The  ball-and-claw  feet  and  the 
handles  are  new,  the  feet  originally  having  been  ogee  bracket  feet. 
The  cornice  with  which  this  piece  is  finished  indicates  a  rather  early 


Figure  36. 
Japanned  Dressing-box,  1760-80. 

date,  for  this  feature,  like  most  details  of  feet,  handles,  etc.,  was  grad- 
ually elaborated,  and  few  arch  cornices  of  a  later  date  than  1750  are 
found  which  are  not  finished  where  they  break  more  or  less  elabo- 
rately with  a  carved  rosette  or  similar  design.  In  1768  at  New  York 
a  mahogany  fluted  double  chest  of  drawers  was  advertised,  and  in 
1 769  chests  on  chests  were  offered. 

Figure  38  shows  a  double  chest  of  later  date  than  the  preceding, 
as  shown  by  the  beading  about  the  drawers,  the  serpentine  form  of 
the  lower  portion,  the  fluted  corner  columns,  the  carving  on  the 
square  drawer,  and   the  hnish  of  the  cornice.      The   rosette  handles 

67 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

seem  too  late  a  style  to  go  with  this  piece,  but  are  undoubtedly  the 
only  handles  it  has  ever  had,  as  it  has  never  been  restored,  and  there 
is  no  mark  whatever  of  other  handles  ;  but  as  chests  of  drawers  were 


S[       J 


\ 

o 

* 

Q 

) 

' 

. .., 

1 

^ 

- — 

—  ■'          ■■■'■! 

0 

c. 

ligure  3S. 

Double  Chest  of  Drawers,  1760-So. 
(Handles  probably  atlded  later.) 

made  and  used  for  years  without  handles,  it  may  be  that  this  chest 
did  not  have  the  handles  added  for  some  years  after  it  was  made. 
The  fact  that  they  are  not  put  on  perfectly  evenly  may  indicate  that 
they  were  not  put  on  by  the  maker.  The  centre  ornament  at 
the  top  is  missing". 

6R 


HIGH   CHEST   OF   DRAWERS,    LATTER    HALF 

EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY. 

(^Figure  3g.) 


x^ 


CHESTS     O  I^^     D  R  A  W  E  R  S 

A  very  elaborate  chest  of  drawers,  which  probably  represents  the 
extreme  to  which  this  style  was  developed,  is  shown  in  Figure  39. 
Every  detail  is  elaborated,  though  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the 
simpler  high-boy  is  followed.  The  carving  is  the  best  and  the  chest 
the  very  finest  of  its  kind.  Chests  of  drawers  of  this  pattern  are 
found  almost  altogether  in  the  South,  in  X'irginia  and  Pennsylvania 
especially,  and  are  almost  invariably  made  of  walnut  with  overlapping 
drawers.  There  are  five  of  these  elaborate  chests  of  drawers  in  the 
Pendleton  collection  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  differing  very 
slightly  in  design  and  detail.  In  the  same  collection  are  also 
dressing-tables  carved  in  like  manner.  This  chest  of  drawers 
belongs  to  ]\Ir.  Meggat. 


^H^^  ^^ 


Figure  40. 

Handles,  Third  and  Fourth  Periods,  dating  1710-60. 

The  handles  shown  in  Figure  40  represent  the  principal  styles 
used  on  high  chests  of  drawers  after  1710.  They  were  fastened 
with  small  screw-bolts.  The  first  two  appear  usually  before  1720,  the 
last  two  from  that  time  until  the  latest  form  of  willow  brasses,  shown 
in  Figure  39. 

BUREAUS 

As  such  pieces  as  these  about  to  be  described  have  so  commonly 
been  called  bureaus,  we  will,  for  convenience,  use  that  name  here. 

There  is  some  indication  that  the  low  chests  of  drawers,  or  bureaus, 

existed  to  some  extent  while  the  high  chests  of  drawers  were  still  in 

general   use.     W'hetlicr  they  were  at  that  time  called  bureaus  is  a 

mooted  question,  and  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  chapter  on  Desks 

69 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

for  discussion  of  the  origin  and  early  use  of  the  word.  Examples 
of  low  chests  of  drawers  which  could  date  previous  to  1750  are  now 
exceedingly  rare ;  the  writer  has  heard  of  but  two  which  would 
answer  the  requirements  of  such  an  early  date.  These  were  both  of 
walnut  with  plain  bracket  feet,  overlap  drawers,  and  engraved  brasses 


Mahogany  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  1760-80. 


of  an  early  willow  pattern  ;  but  the  bureaus  which  have  survived  to 
any  extent  are  largely  of  mahogany,  and  certainly  date  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Those  with  swell  or  serpentine  fronts 
were  adopted  from  the  French,  who  called  them  commodes.  Chip- 
pendale published  designs  for  them,  and  probably  introduced  them  to 
England.  Hepplewhite  and  Shearer  published  numerous  designs  in 
1 788-89  for  serpentine-front  chests  of  drawers,  and  called  them 
dressing-chests  and  French  commode  dressing-chests. 

The  characteristics  of  the  earlier  form  of  chests  of  drawers  have 


CHESTS     OF     DRAW'ERS 

been  fully  discussed  previously,  and  it  only  remains  to  give  illustrations 
of  some  of  the  varieties  of  bureaus  which  are  now  commonly  found. 

Figure  41  shows  a  mahogany  serpentine  bureau  with  ball-and- 
claw  feet  and  a  late  form  of  willow  handles.  The  frame  about  the 
drawers  has  the  narrow  bead- moulding  common  to  such  pieces. 


Figure  42. 
Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1770-80. 

Figure  42  shows  a  serpentine  bureau  with  ogee  bracket  feet,  and 
with  corners  finished  with  a  fluted  column.  The  drawers  are  finished 
in  the  same  way  as  the  above.  The  date  of  this  piece  cannot  safely 
be  placed  earlier  than  1770. 

Figure  43  shows  a  block-front  bureau  belonging  to  Mr.  W.  S. 
Schutz,  of  Hartford,  in  which  the  drawers  are  finished  with  a  narrow 
bead-moulding,  and  the  handles,  which  arc  the  original,  show  that 
the  piece  cannot  date  earlier  than  1770-80.  The  feet,  it  will  be 
noticed,  have  a  somewhat  unusually  deep  curve. 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


Figure  43. 
Block-front  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1780. 


Figure  44. 
Block-front  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1780. 


CHESTS      OF     D  R  A  W^  E  R  S 

Figure  44  shows  a  block-front  bureau  with  the  shell  carving, 
belonging  to  Mr.  Meggat.  The  frame  about  the  drawers  is  finished 
with  the  usual  fine  beading  which,  as  we  have  seen  before,  many  mis- 
take for  the  canal-moulding.  The  three  drawers  are  rarely  met  with, 
such  bureaus  generally  having  four  drawers.  The  feet  are  particu- 
larly slender  and  graceful,  and,  with  the  heavy  upper  moulding,  bring 
the  height  of  the  piece  about  up  to  that  of  the  four-drawer  bureau. 
The  remains  of  the  original  brasses  will  be  seen  on  the  drawers. 


Figure  45. 
Swell-front  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  1780-1800. 

b  igure  45  shows  a  swell-front  bureau  with  the  foot  used  on  the 
French  commodes  and  usually  known  as  the  F"rench  foot.  Each 
drawer  is  inlaid  about  an  inch  and  a  half  from  the  edge  with  a 
narrow  band  of  holly,  and  the  edge  of  the  top  and  the  frame  at  the 
bottom  have  a  border  about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  wide  of  fi\nc\' 
inlay.  Bureaus  of  this  kind  were  very  common  in  this  country,  both 
plain  and  inlaid,  and  almost  invariably  have  the  oval  brasses.  They 
date  from  i  780-1800. 

73 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figure  46  shows  an  elaborate  swell-front  bureau  of  mahogany 
with  square  and  oval  panels  of  satinwood,  each  outlined  with  a  fine 
border  of  inlay  of  holly,  rosewood,  and  ebony.     This  represents  the 


Kigure   46. 

Mahogany  and  Satinwood  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  1780-90. 

(Brasses  new.) 

handsomest  and  best-made  bureau  of  its  time — 1780-90.  The 
handles  are  not  original.  This  piece  belongs  to  Mrs.  Alexander 
Forman,  of  Brooklyn. 

Figure  47  shows  a  mahogany  bureau  in  the  Sheraton  style,  as 
shown  b)-  the  fluted  columns  and  feet.  The  wide  drawer  at  the  top 
has  the  appearance  of  being  a  "  bureau  drawer  "  fitted  with  a  spring 
and  quadrant  for  writing  purposes ;  this  is  not,  however,  the  case, 
but  this  bureau  was  probably  modelled  after  one  having  such  a 
drawer.  The  handles  are  original,  and  the  date  of  the  bureau  is  about 
1790. 

Figure  48  shows  a  bureau  of  late  Sheraton  or  early  Empire 
design.      It  is  made  of  mahogany  with  a  little  inlay  in  holl)-. 

74 


CHESTS     OF     DRAWERS 

Figure  49  shows  an  Empire  bureau  found  in  \'irginia,  having  the 
three  lower  drawers  swelled  and  the  short  drawers  at  the  top  straight. 
This  form  of  bureau  was  largely  used  in  the  South,  and  similar  ones 


Figure  47. 
Sheraton  Low  Cliest  of  Drawers,  about  1750. 

are  sometimes  found  with  turned  feet.  The  handles,  though  old,  are 
not  the  original  for  this  piece,  which  should  have  had  rosette  handles 
of  some  sort.     It  dates  about  1 800-10. 

Figure  50  shows  the  conventional  tall  Empire  bureau  with  the 
proper  rosette  and  ring  handles.  The  columns  show  the  acanthus- 
leaf  and  pineapple  so  generally  used  on  all  Empire  furniture.  All 
these  bureaus  were  of  fine  mahogany,  usually  veneered. 

As  bureaus  are  so  commonly  associated  with  mahogany,  it  will 
perhaps  be  well  to  say  something  of  the  history  of  the  use  ot  that 
wood  for  furniture  in  general.      The  traditicMi  of  ils  introduction   into 

75 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  N  I  T  L'  R  E 

England  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  1595,  is  quite  generally  accepted, 
and  at  the  same  time  it  is  as  generally  believed  that  it  was  not  used 
there  to  any  extent  until  about  1720.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  century 
which  divides  its  discovery  from  its  po])ular  use  was   absolutely  igno- 


Figure  4S. 
Late  Sheraton  Low  Chest  of  Drawers,  about  1800. 

rant  of  it,  and  some  pieces  are  now  known  to  have  been  made  of 
mahogany  in  England  previous  to  1700.  As  far  as  this  countr)-  is 
concerned,  there  is  no  indication  whatever  that  it  was  known  or  used 
previous  to  1700;  none  of  the  furniture,  such  as  chairs,  tables,  or 
chests  of  drawers,  which  were  made  at  this  time,  were  made  of  mahog- 
any, and  there  is  no  mention  in  the  inventories  or  contemporary 
documents  of  anv  kind  that  the  writer  has  been   able   to  find  of  ma- 


I 


CHESTS     OF     D  R  A  W  E  R  S 

hogany  previous  to  1700.  At  Philadelphia,  in  1694,  the  inventory  of 
a  cabinet-maker  named  John  Fellows  contained  the  following  list  of 
material  in  a  shop:  "  pyne  loggs,  walnutt  loggs,  pyne  boards,  wal- 
nutt    planks,    walnutt    scantling,    oak  boards  and    cedar  boards,  one 


Figure  49. 

Empire  Bureau,  1800-10. 
(Handles  new.) 

case  of  drawers,  partlie  made,  stuff  for  a  side  table  partlie  made, 
stuff  partlie  wrought  for  a  hall  table,  a  parcel  of  brass  work  for 
drawers,  four  sutes  of  locks  for  chests  of  drawers,  three  dressing 
box  locks";  but  in  1720  Joseph  Waite,  also  of  Philadelphia,  had 
in  his  shop  "a  chest  of  mahogany  drawers  unfinished."  Previous 
to  this  there  is  mention  of  a  "  broaken  mahogany  skreen  "  in  the 
inventory   of  John    Jones,    in    1708,   at    Philadcli)hia,   valued    at    two 


C  O  L  O  X  I  A  L     V  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

shillings.  If  \ve  conclude,  then,  that  the  use  of  mahogany  for 
furniture  in  this  country  was  contemporaneous  with  the  opening  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  we  shall  certainly  place  it  early  enough,  and  we 
are  equally  safe  in  concluding  that  it  was  not  in  general  use  earlier 


Figure  50. 
Empire  Bureau,  1810-20. 

than  1720-30.  The  Boston  "Evening  Post"  throughout  the  year 
I  74 1  advertises  mahogany  boards  in  large  quantities,  and  after  this 
time  the  newspapers  and  inventories  frequently  mention  mahogany 
tables,  chairs,  and  desks. 

It  may  be  well,  while  on  this  subject,  to  speak  here  of  the  differ- 
ence between  the  old  mahogany  and  the  new.  There  are  in  the 
market  to-day  in  commonest  use  two  kinds  of  mahogany.  One,  from 
Mexico,  is  quite  a  soft  wood,  and  light  in  color,  which  does  not 
darken  with  age,  and  consequently  must  be  stained.      It  weighs  but 


CHESTS     OF      DRAWERS 

about  two  and  a  half  pounds  to  a  square  foot  an  inch  in  thickness, 
while  West  Indian  mahogany  weighs  about  six  pounds.  The  other 
kind  of  mahogany  is  from  Honduras,  and  is  even  softer  than  the 
Mexican,  with  a  much  coarser  grain.  It  is  therefore  often  possible  to 
tell  by  the  weight  of  a  piece  of  furniture  whether  it  is  old  or  new,  and 
this  is  particularly  true  in  respect  to  chairs. 

The  best  mahogany  to-day,  as  well   as   in    former  days,  comes 
from  the  West  Indies,  and  is  sometimes  called  Spanish  mahogany. 


Figure  51. 

Handles,  17  70- 1800. 

There  is  also  a  very  beautiful  grained  mahogany  now  in  the  market 
coming  from  Africa. 

The  types  of  handles  met  with  on  chests  of  drawers  and  bureaus 
dating  after  1760  are  shown  in  Figure  51. 


i^:M^ 

!^^H^^ 

f            "^p^J" 

— ' 

Figure  52. 

Handles,  1800-20. 


The  first  is  a  form  of  willow  found  on  ball-and-claw-foot  pieces 
and  the  late  high  chests  of  drawers;  the  second  is  a  litde  screw  han- 
dle, which  had  no  plate,  and  was  most  often  found  on  dressing-boxes ; 

79 


C  O  L  O  N  I  A  L     V  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

the  third  is  the  oval  handle  found  on  the  majority  of  the  swell-front 
bureaus  and  Hepplewhite  sideboards  ;  and  the  fourth  is  a  rather  elabo- 
rate oval,  with  a  ring  handle,  found  on  Sheraton  pieces. 

Figure  52  shows  three  forms  of  handles  belonging  to  the  Empire 
period,  to  which  should  also  be  added  the  brass  rosette  shown  in  Fig- 
ure 38,  and  the  glass  rosette,  which  was  quite  commonly  used  on  the 
late  Empire  bureau. 


Figure  53. 

Wash-Stand,  Hepplewhite,  1780-90. 


Figure  54. 

Wash-stand,  Sheraton,  about  1790. 


Two  little  corner  wash-stands  which  were  in  fashion  with  the 
swell-  and  serpentine-front  bureaus  are  shown  in  Figures  53  and  54. 

Figure  53  is  Hepplewhite  in  style,  and  belongs  to  Mr.  INIeggat. 
Figure  54  is  Sheraton,  of  mahogany,  with  drawer-fronts  of  bird's-eye 
maple,  and  belongs  to  Mrs.  W.  \V.  Andrews.      They  date  i  780-1 800. 


80 


I  V 

CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

AT  the  time  when  the  American  colonies  were  settled  cupboards 
/  \  had  been  in  common  use  for  generations.  As  the  name  im- 
/  %  plies,  they  were  originally  "bordes"  on  which  to  set  drink- 
ing-cups.  The  earhest  of  these  cupboards  now  known  are  con- 
structed with  shelves  arranged  like  steps,  and  having  often  a  "tremor" 
or  canopy  of  wood  ;  they  are  Gothic  in  style,  and  are  spoken  of  some- 
times as  ambries  or  almeries,  the  names  long-  used  in  the  churches  for 
a  niche  or  cupboard  near  the  altar,  built  to  contain  the  utensils 
requisite  for  conducting  worship. 

The  frequent  mention  of  cupboards  of  all  kinds  throughout  our 
probate  records  shows  them  to  have  been  in  very  common  use  in  all 
the  colonies,  and  the  spelling  of  the  word  is  various  enough  to 
suit  all  tastes :  cubboard,  cubberd,  cubbord,  cubbert,  cupbard,  and 
cubart  are  some  of  the  spellings  employed.  Court,  wainscot,  livery, 
standing,  hanging,  press,  joined,  plain,  great,  and  painted  are  the  de- 
scriptions most  often  met  with.  Court  and  livery,  the  words  most  often 
used  in  connection  with  the  cupboards  of  New  England  and  the 
South,  seem  to  have  lost  their  original  meanings  sometime  before  their 
use  in  this  covmtry.  It  is  fair  to  suppose  that  they  must  have  had 
.some  definite  descriptive  meanings  when  first  applied,  and  these  seem 
to  have  been  derived  from  the  French  words  court  and  livrer,  court 
meaning  low  or  short,  and  pointing  to  the  conclusion  that  this  mu,st 


•     COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

have  been  a  low  piece  of  furniture,  much  Hke  a  modern  serving-table. 
Livrer  has  been  variously  translated  to  mean  service  and  delivery, 
perhaps  referring  to  a  custom  in  vogue  during  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries  of  delivering  to  the  household  the  rations  required 
during  the  day  and  night.  An  old  English  dictionary  defines  livery 
as  "  something  given  out  in  stated  quantities  at  stated  times."  For  a 
note  on  the  word  cupboard  in  the  "  Promptuarium  Parvulorum  Cleri- 
corum,"  published  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1510,  and  republished  by 
the  Camden  Society  in  1865,  reads  as  follovi^s :  "The  livery  cupboard 
often  mentioned  in  accounts  and  ordinances  of  the  household  was 
open  and  furnished  with  shelves  whereon  the  ration  called  a  livery 
allowed  to  each  member  of  the  household  was  placed."  The  English 
inventory  records  throughout  the  sixteenth  century,  published  by  the 
Surtees  and  Camden  societies,  make  frequent  mention  of  court  and 
livery  cupboards,  but  their  values,  even  in  the  estates  of  persons  of 
consequence,  are  so  exceedingly  low  as  to  indicate  that  they  must 
have  been  very  simple  in  style  and  workmanship,  hardly  more  than 
shelves  supported  by  a  frame. 

The  picture  of  the  dining-hall  at  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford 
(Figure  55),  shows  a  court  cupboard  beneath  the  window,  which  must 
have  been  far  finer  than  the  bulk  of  those  of  the  time  to  which  it  be- 
longs (sixteenth  century).  The  upper  shelf  will  be  seen  to  be  sup- 
ported by  well-carved  dragons,  the  lower  b\-  pilasters  carved  after  the 
manner  of  Elizabethan  pieces,  and  the  centre  shelf  ornamented  with 
deeply  carved  reedings.  This  cupboard  doubtless  represents  very 
fairly  the  style  in  which  cupboards  were  built  during  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries.  Toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
English  records  show  the  court  and  livery  cupboards  to  have  increased 
in  value,  and  this  undoubtedly  means  that  these  pieces  had  been  elab- 
orated in  some  way,  probably  by  the  addition  of  enclosures  in  the 
form  of  cupboards  and  drawers,  and  also  by  the  addition  of  ornaments 
in  the  form  of  carving  and  inlav.     This  we  know  to  be  true,  for  a 


to  y 


o 


Si  u 


u 


Q 


J3 


o 


83 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

number  of  cupboards  dating  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  are 
preserved  in  the  collections  of  English  museums  which  have  enclo- 
sures and  drawers  and  are  carved  and  inlaid. 

A  very  few  specimens  of  cupboards  with  on!)-  the  upper  portion 
enclosed  remain  in  this  country,  and  the  conclusion  that  the  court 
cupboard  has  evolved  from  open  shelves  to  the  fully  enclosed  cup- 
boards, of  which  comparatively  large  numbers  remain,  is  well  attested. 
The  upper  portion,  as  we  have  seen,  was  first  enclosed,  the  lower 
remaining  an  open  shelf;  then  a  drawer  was  added  below  the  middle 
shelf  and,  finally,  the  lower  portion  was  entirely  enclosed,  first  with 
cupboards  and  then  with  drawers.  Properly  speaking,  then,  the 
terms  court  and  livery  do  not  apply  to  the  cupboards  which  are  to  be 
found  in  this  country,  which  are,  technically  speaking,  press  cup- 
boards, that  is,  enclosed  with  doors  ;  but  there  is  every  reason  to  think 
that  these  press  cupboards  were  referred  to  as  court  and  livery,  for 
there  is  express  mention  of  court  cupboards  with  drawers  and  livery 
cupboards  with  drawers,  which  are  not  qualifications  of  real  court  or 
livery  cupboards. 

As  far  as  this  country  is  concerned,  court  and  livery  are  used 
quite  interchangeably,  if  one  may  judge  from  values  given,  for  the 
prices  of  both  are  equally  small  or  large,  as  the  case  may  be :  a 
court  cupboard  at  Salem  in  1647,  14s.;  a  livery  cupboard  at  the  same 
place  in  1656,  i8s.;  a  livery  cupboard  and  cloth  in  1674,  ;^i  5s.;  a  court 
cupboard  and  cloth  at  Boston  in  1700,  ^i  ;  a  court  cupboard  with  a 
drawer  at  Boston  in  1658,  i6s.;  a  livery  cupboard  with  drawers, 
1666,  I  OS. 

The  cloth  was  mentioned  quite  as  often  with  court  as  with  livery, 
and  suggests  that  their  make-up  must  have  been  much  the  same. 
There  is  no  mention  of  either  court  or  livery  cupboards  in  the  early 
New  York  records,  and  the  /casscs  or  cupboards  in  use  among  the 
Dutch  will  be  spoken  of  separately. 

The  Southern  records  contain  quite    frequent   nxMition  of  both 

85 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

court  and  livery  cupboards,  but,  as  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to 
determine,  these  pieces  have  utterly  disappeared,  and  it  may  be 
assumed  that  they  were  in  character  and  material  the  same  class  of 
furniture  as  those  remaininLf  in  New  England,  as  the  source  of  supply 
for  North  and  South  was  the  same. 

The  wood  is  usually  oak,  with  pine  freely  used  for  the  cupboard 
tops,  bottoms,  and  backs,  and  for  the  bottoms  of  the  drawers  when 
drawers  are  used.  In  the  panelled  cupboards  the  mouldings  are 
occasionally  found  of  cedar,  but  are  more  often  of  pine,  beech,  or 
maple  painted,  and  the  turned  ornaments,  drops,  nail-heads,  turtle- 
backs,  and  triglyphs  are  of  the  same  woods,  also  painted.  The  pre- 
dominance of  American   oak   in   the  construction  of  these  cupboards 


Figure  56. 

Press  Cupboard,  about  1650. 

denotes,  of  course,  their  manufacture  here,  and  as  they  are  such  bulky, 
difficult  pieces  to  transport,  it  would  seem  likely  that  comparatively 
few  of  them  were  brought  over. 

86 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

Figure  56  shows  a  cupboard  constructed  in  the  way  most  com- 
monly employed.  The  upper  portion  is  splayed  at  the  corners,  and 
the  overhanging  cornice  is  supported  by  heavy  turned  posts ;  the 
lower  portion  is  somewhat  plainer  than  usual,  the  doors  and  ends 
being  panelled  in  as  simple  a  manner  as  possible.  It  may  here  be 
observed  that  if  but  one  portion  of  a  cupboard  or  chest  is  ornamented 
it  is  almost  without  exception  the  upper  portion.  The  arched  pan- 
elling and  the  scroll  carving  are  both  indications  of  an  early  date,  and 
it  may  safely  be  placed  in  the  neighborhood  of  1650.     This  cupboard 


Figure  57. 

Panelled  Cupboard,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

is  now  in  the   Bolles   collection,  having   formerly  belonged    to    Mr. 
Hulbert,  of  Middletown,  Connecticut. 

Figure  57  is  a  wainscot  or  joined  cupboard  in  the  collection  of 
Mr.  Henry  W.  Erving,  of  Hartford,  which  is  made  throughout  of  oak, 

»7 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

no  pine  whatever  appearing  in  its  construction,  a  fact  quite  note- 
worthy, as  the  wood  is  American  oak,  and  most  American  pieces  show 
pine,  while  the  majority  of  English  pieces  are  much  more  sparing  in 
the  use  of  it.  The  cupboard  is  divided  at  the  centre,  and  a  long 
drawer  runs  across  the  bottom,  the  mouldings  on  this  drawer  being 
worked  on,  not  applied  as  is  usual.  The  stiles  may  have  originally 
had  turned  ornaments,  but  the  piece  shows  no  evidence  of  having 
been  painted.      Its  date  is  about  1675-1700. 

Cupboards  of  this  variety,  with  panelling  in  various  geometrical 
designs,  are  very  often  constructed  with  the  receding  portions  of  the 
panel  in  pine  and  painted  black,  and  with  the  mouldings  painted  red. 
Cupboards  intended  for  clothes  are  found  made  in  this  way,  some  of 
them  ver)-  large,  from  seven  to  eight  feet  in  height  and  from  si.\  to 
eicrht  feet  in  leneth,  the  large  doors  dividing  at  the  centre,  and  show- 
ing  no  shelves,  but  instead  large  wooden  pegs  on  which  the  clothes 
were  hung.  The  hinges  of  iron  are  sometimes  large  and  fancifully 
shaped,  and  applied  on  the  outside  as  ornaments.  Such  pieces  as 
these,  with  their  fine  panelling  and  brilliant  colors,  are  exceedingly 
effective. 

Figure  58  shows  a  very  fine  example  of  the  panelled  cupboard, 
dating  about  1660-80,  the  drawer-fronts  and  centre  of  the  panels 
being  inlaid  in  block  design  with  light  and  dark  woods.  This  inlay 
is  quite  often  met  with  in  the  fine  cupboards  abroad,  but  it  is  not 
very  common  in  this  country.  This  cupboard  was  found  neglected 
in  a  stable  some  years  ago,  and  carefully  restored;  but  the  feet,  which 
are  new,  should  have  been  of  the  ball  variety  illustrated  in  Figure  61, 
for,  almost  without  exception,  chests  and  cupboards  having  the  wide 
outstandiuL''  mouldinor  at  the  bottom  have  these  ball  feet,  while  the 
straight  feet  are  merely  the  continuation  of  the  stiles  and  uninter 
rupted  b)'  any  moulding  in  most  cases. 

The  feet  of  chests  and  cupboards  being  often  missing,  it  may  be 
of  service  to  collectors  to  know  that  if  the  place  where  the  feet  were 

88 


PANELLED   OAK    PRESS   CUPBOARD,   1660-80. 


h 


S^af^ 


f 


C  U  I'  B  O  A  R  D  S     AND     SIDEBOARDS 

applied  originally  can  be  examined,  the  presence  of  an  auger-hole 
with  rounded  end  denotes  the  use  of  a  very  old  style  of  instrument, 
for  the  modern  auger  leaves  a  straight  surface  where  it  finishes  a 
hole.  The  ball  feet  were  furnished  with  dowel-pins  which  fitted  into 
the  holes. 


Figure  59. 
Panelled  and  Inlaid  Press  Cupboard,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

The  cupboard  from  Mr.  Erving's  collection,  shown  in  Eigure  59, 
has  come  to  be  quite  generally  known  among  collectors  as  the  Con- 
necticut cupboard,  for  a  number  of  them  have  been  found  in  Connec 

S9 


COLONIAL     rURNITURE 

ticut,  and  the  writer  has  been  unable  to  trace  any  that  have  been 
found  elsewhere. 

The  panels  of  the  lower  portion  will  be  seen  to  be  almost  identi- 
cal with  the  chest  shown  in  Figure  lo.  This  cupboard  differs  some- 
what from  those  previously  shown,  in  that  the  upper  section  is  not 
splayed,  but  presents  a  straight  surface,  leaving  a  narrow  shelf  run- 
ning across  the  front.  The  wide  drawer  between  the  upper  and 
lower  section  is  not  divided  into  two,  as  it  appears  to  be.  These 
cupboards  date  about  1680.  Cupboards  are  occasionally  met  with  in 
which  both  upper  and  lower  sections  are  recessed,  the  lower  cup- 
board finished  in  the  same  manner  as  the  upper,  and  also  having  the 
turned  posts  at  the  corners.  A  drawer  sometimes  is  added  at  the 
bottom.  A  cupboard  of  this  description  is  in  the  Waters  collection 
at  Salem,  Massachusetts. 

Figure  60  shows  a  fine  carved  cupboard  in  the  Bulkeley  collec- 
tion, and  is  a  particularly  interesting  piece,  as  it  has  so  many  of  the 
carved  desifjns  in  common  use  in  Entfland  durincr  the  late  si.xteenth 
and  early  seventeenth  centuries.  The  drawer  and  upper  cornice  have 
the  very  familiar  scroll  design  ;  the  stiles  are  in  the  rose  design  ;  and 
the  lower  rail  has  the  half-circle  border  seen  on  so  many  of  the 
chests.  The  blocking  with  which  the  top  is  finished  is  not  usually 
found  except  on  well-made  pieces.  This  cupboard  probably  dates 
about  1675-80. 

Another  carved  cupboard,  belonging  to  Mr.  Walter  Hosmer,  of 
Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  is  shown  in  Figure  61,  which  also  shows 
a  large  number  of  carved  designs  that  are  familiar  to  one  acquainted 
with  the  chests.  The  main  decoration  consists  of  the  scroll,  while  the 
stiles  show  the  herring-bone  or  feather  pattern  to  advantage  ;  the 
rose  also  appears  on  the  recessed  portion  of  the  upper  cupboard. 
The  reader  will  observe  the  wide  outstanding  moulding  and  the 
ball  feet.  A  feature  of  the  cupboard  not  observable  from  the  illus- 
tration is  the   fact    that   the    turned   posts   are   of  oak  and   have  evi- 

90 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

dently  never  been  painted ;  the  Ionic  capitals  and  dentilled  cornice 
add  to  the  well-made  appearance  ;  and  though  all  the  carved  designs  are 
early  ones,  the  general  aspect  which  the  cupboard  presents  of  a  fully 
developed  style  points  to  a  date  late  in  the  seventeenth  century.      It 


Figure  60. 

Carved  Oak  Press  Cupboard,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

was  undoubtedly  made  in  this  country,  as  the  wood  is  American  white- 
oak.      This  cupboard  is  of  unusual  size,  being  5  feet  i  }i  inches  high. 


the  lower  section  being  3  feet  in  height,  4  feet  wide,  anc 


I    1 


nch 


es 


deep,  the  upper  part  2  feet  i  ><  inches  high  and  18 '4  inches  deep. 

9' 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Such  examples  of  carving  as  those  last  shown  make  it  appear 
rather  remarkable  that  the  New  England  inventories  do  not  mention 
carving  in  connection  with  cupboards,  and  only  very  occasionall)-  in 
the  description  of  chests ;  it  would  seem  that  the  original  cost  of  such 


Figure  6i. 
Carved  Oak  Press  Cupboard,  last  (juarter  seventeenth  centur)'. 


work  as  these  cupboards  show  would  necessarily  be  high;  but  on 
looking  through  a  long  list  of  cupboard  values  taken  at  Pljmouth, 
Salem,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  York  town,  the  values  vary,  as  a  rule, 
from  5s.  to   /^i  5s.,  and  valuations  above  these  figures  are  very  rare. 

92 


PANELLED   OAK    PRESS   CUPBOARD    WITH    THREE    DRAWERS, 

LATTER    HALF   SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY. 

(Figure  6b.  ) 


C  U  P  B  O  A  R  1 )  S     AND     SID  E  B  ()  A  R  D  S 

An  entry  of  a  "court  cubbert "  at  Boston,  1681,  places  the  value  at 
^4,  and  at  Yorktown  a  court  cupboard  with  drawers,  in  1657,  is  valued 
at  ;^5  ;  at  Salem,  in  1733,  we  find  "  one  best  cupboard  ^'3,"  and  the 
"  next  best,  £2  ";  but  the  currency  inflation  suffered  at  this  time  in  Mas- 
sachusetts may  bring  the  actual  value  of  the  last-named  down  to  the 
average.  The  inside  arrangement  of  these  cupboards  does  not  vary 
much.  The  upper  cupboard  is  usually  open, — that  is,  without  shelves, 
— but  sometimes  has  a  shelf  in  the  centre  ;  and  when  the  cornice  at 
the  top  is  not  a  drawer  it  often  has  a  shelf  concealed  which  is  reached 
through  the  cupboard.  The  lower  cupboard  has  from  one  to  three  long 
shelves.  These  cupboards,  as  well  as  the  joined  oak  hu-niture  in  gen- 
eral, are  fastened  together  mortise  and  tenon  fashion  with  wooden 
pegs  throughout ;    no  nails  whatever  were  used  in  them. 

A  very  fine  cupboard  with  drawers,  known  as  the  "  Putnam  cup- 
board," which  was  presented  to  the  Esse.x  Institute,  Salem,  by  Miss 
Harriet  Putnam  Fowler,  of  Dan  vers,  Massachusetts,  a  descendant  of 
John  Putnam,  who  settled  in  .Salem  about  the  year  1634,  is  shown  in 
Figure  62.  It  differs  from  all  the  preceding  in  having  the  lower 
section  entirely  of  drawers,  a  development  which  we  may  regard  as 
the  extreme  to  which  these  cupboards  came,  although  a  court  cup- 
board with  three  drawers  is  mentioned  in  a  Boston  inventory  as  early 
as  1677.  The  panelling  on  the  drawers  is  especially  fine,  all  the 
mouldings  being  of  cedar.  The  arch  shape  of  the  recessed  panels 
of  the  cupboard  portion  would  make  it  appear  that  this  cupboard  ma)- 
be  an  early  example  of  its  kind.  It  probabl)-  dates,  however,  after 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  wood  is  English  oak 
throughout,  indicating  its  origin.  The  piece  is  made  in  two  parts, 
the  cupboard  proper  and  the  drawer  section  separate. 

There  is  a  cupboard  with  three  drawers  in  the  Holies  collection, 
dated  1699,  showing  that  cupboards  were  being  made  in  this  way  as 
late  as  that  date. 

Figure  63  shows  a  very  beautiful  and   rare  piece   belonging  to 

93 


C  O  L  O  X  I  A  L     !•  L'  R  X  I  T  U  R  E 

Mr.  Walter  Hosmer,  of  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  which  may,  perhaps, 
be  such  a  piece  as  was  referred  to  in  several  Yorktown  (Virginia) 
inventories  before  1700 — "a  cupboard  of  drawers."  It  is  53  inches 
high,  43  inches  wide,  and  30  inches  deep,  and  is  made  in  two  sections, 
as  were  the   high   chests  of  drawers  and  the  cupboard  last  shown. 


Figure  6j. 

Cupboard  of  Drawers,  last  iiuarter  seventeenth  century. 

The  upper  section  consists  of  two  drawers,  one  about  4^2  inches  wide, 
extending  entirely  across  the  front  just  beneath  the  moulding,  and  a 
larger  drawer  io>^  inches  wide.  The  lower  section  is  in  appearance 
a  cupboard,  the  doors  enclosing  three  long  drawers.  The  wood  is 
English  oak,  and  the  face  of  the  centre  panels  and  the  entire  front  of 
the  narrow  drawer,  as  well  as  the  face  of  the  applied  ornaments  of  the 
upper  section,  are  veneered  with  snakewood,  an  extreinely  hard  wood 

94 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

growing  in  Brazil.  The  mouldings  are  cedar,  and  there  is  no  paint 
on  the  piece,  except  on  the  turned  ornaments,  which  are  painted  black. 
The  knob  handles  are  of  bone,  and  the  drop  handles  on  the  enclosed 
drawers  are  of  iron.  This  piece  was  found  in  Connecticut,  but  is 
undoubtedly  of  English  origin. 

Cupboard  cloths  and  cushions  are  mentioned  frequently  in 
all  the  records,  and  often  inventoried  separately  as  articles  of 
considerable  value,  sometimes  higher  than  the  cupboard  itself. 
We  know  that  the  cupboard  tops  were  used  for  the  display  of  china, 
pewter,  and  glass,  for  this  is  often  included  in  the  appraised  value 
of  the  cupboard  ;  therefore  the  cupboard  cloths  or  carpets  are  easily 
accounted  for,  as  covers  made  of  various  materials  (linen,  tapestry, 
and  needlework  are  some  of  the  kinds  mentioned)  would  very  natu- 
rally have  been  in  use.  But  what  a  cupboard  cushion  could  be  does 
not  at  first  appear,  as  there  seems  to  have  been  no  cupboard  that  could 
possibly  have  been  used  as  a  seat,  and  cushions  meant  cushions  in  those 
days  as  now,  and  are  almost  invariably  mentioned  with  joined  chairs 
and  settles.  The  only  solution  for  the  riddle  of  the  cushion  on  the 
cupboard  seems  to  be  that  the  cushion  was  probably  a  very  thin  one, 
placed  over  or  under  the  cloth  as  a  protection  to  the  china  and  glass 
against  striking  a  hard  surface  with  force  enough  to  break  or  injure  it. 

The  cupboards  discussed  so  far  in  this  chapter  represent  the  kind 
of  furniture  with  which  the  homes  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  this 
country  were  furnished,  and  to  the  average  American  are  absolutely 
unknown. 

The  consensus  of  opinion  among  students  of  the  subject  is  that 
the  design  for  the  wainscot  cupboards  came  from  Germany,  and  Herr 
von  Falke,  in  his  lectures  on  "Art  in  the  House,"  shows  a  few  designs 
for  German  Renaissance  sideboards,  mostly  from  the  designs  of  Hans 
Vriedeman  de  Vries  (painter,  designer,  and  architect,  born  at  Leeu- 
warden,  in  Friesland,  1527,  died  at  Antwerp  some  time  after  1604), 
which  may  easily  have  been  the  models  for  the  heavily  panelled  cup- 

95 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

boards  so  common  here.  The  taste  for  the  brilliant  colors  with  which 
the  cupboards  were  sometimes  stained  and  painted  probably  also 
came  from  the  Germans,  for  Dr.  von  Falke  remarks  that  the  mag- 
nificent inlay  in  colored  woods,  metals,  and  precious  stones  achieved 
by  the  great  artists  of  Italy  and  Spain  created  a  desire  for  these 
same  color  effects  without  the  same  expense  and  skill,  thus  giving 
rise  to  the  use  of  paint  or  stain  among  the  German  cabinet-makers 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  Practically  all  the  American  cupboards 
show  traces  of  having  their  mouldings  and  turned  ornaments  painted, 
and  the  carved  pieces,  many  of  them,  show  the  presence  of  a  black 
stain  or  paint  used  as  a  background  to  set  off  the  carving  more  effec- 
tively. A  cupboard  is  occasionally  found  where  judicious  scraping 
will  show  the  original  ornament  to  have  been  principally  a  design  in 
paint,  simulating  carving  or  panelling.  These  painted  cupboards  are 
not,  however,  very  common;   a  unique  one  is  in  the  Bolles  collection. 

It  has  been  previously  remarked  that  the  words  court  and  livery 
do  not  appear  in  the  inventory  records  at  New  York,  and  likewise 
the  words  oak  and  wainscot  are  almost  entirely  lacking.  The  word 
kas,  sometimes  spelled  kasse,  appears  very  often,  and  this  was  the 
Dutch  name  for  cupboard.  The  records  speak  of  plain  cupboards, 
great  cupboards,  walnut  cupboards,  great  presses,  Holland  cupboards, 
cedar  cupboards,  and  Dutch  painted  cupboards,  and  a  search  among 
the  treasures  of  Dutch  families  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  has  not 
revealed  a  single  oak  piece  or  a  cupboard  in  any  way  resembling  the 
court  and  livery  cupboards  of  New  England. 

The  cabinet  or  cupboard  shown  in  Figure  64  was  made  in  Hol- 
land in  the  first  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  centur)-,  and  has  recently 
been  brought  to  this  country.  The  carving  is  of  a  very  high  order, 
and  the  plain  overhanging  moulding  and  the  curious  ball  feet  are  the 
only  resemblance  it  bears  to  any  Dutch  pieces  to  be  found  in  this 
country  to-day. 

A  Dutch  painted  cupboard  now  preserved  at  the  Van  Cortlandt 

96 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

Mansion  at  Van  Cortlandt  Park  is  shown  in  Figure  65.  The  quaint 
designs  in  fruit  and  flowers  are  in  shades  of  gray,  and  seem  never  to 
have  been  tampered  with.     There  is  a  long  drawer  across  the  bottom 


Figure  64. 
Dutch  Cabinet,  first  quarter  seventeenth  .century. 

on  side  runners,  and  the  cupboard  doors  when  open  disclose  wide 
shelves.  Kasses  of  this  kind  are  made  to  separate  in  three  parts;  the 
heavy  cornice  lifts  off,  and  the  frame  and  drawer  are  separate  from 
the  cupboard  proper. 

97 


C  O  L  O  \  I  A  L     ¥  U  R  X  I  1~  U  R  E 

The  writer  knows  of  three  cupboards  exactly  like  this  in  con- 
struction, belonging  to  Dutch  families  in  the  neighborhood  of  New 
York,  which  are  made  of  pine,  cherry,  and  maple  respectively,  and 
instead  of  being  painted  are  panelled,  the  doors  plainly,  the 
drawers  in  geometric  designs;   and  the  drawers   in  each  case  have 


Figure  65. 
Painted  Kas,  latter  half  seventeenth  century. 


side  runners.  The  inside  arrangement  is  the  same  as  that  in  Fig- 
ure 65,  except  that  a  shallow  drawer  runs  beneath  the  middle  shelf 
A  Dutch  painted  cupboard  valued  at  £i  is  mentioned  at  New  York 
in  1702. 

Figure  66  shows  a  kas  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Henry  R.  Beek- 
man,  of  New  York  City.  The  wood  is  walnut  throughout,  and  the 
carving,  which  is  well  executed,  is  applied,  and  appears  to  be  original; 
and  the  fact  that  several  kasses  of  this   kind  of  which   the  writer 


'^ 


Figure  66. 

Carved  Walnut  Kas,  about  middle  of  seventeenth  century. 


99 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 


knows  are  decorated  in  this  same  way,  and  in  very  similar  patterns, 
would  indicate  that  this  method  of  applying  the  carving  was  the  one 
generally  employed.  Its  dimensions  are  7  feet  3  inches  in  height, 
and  6  feet  2  >j  inches  in  width;  the  cornice  overhang  measures  8 
inches,  and  the  ball  feet  measure  9  inches  in  diameter.  The  wide 
drawer  at  the  bottom  is  on  side  runners,  and  the  inside  shelves, 
three  in  number,  are  each  furnished  with  a  three-inch  drawer,  also  on 
side  runners.  A  rather  curious  fact  is  that  although  all  these  kasses 
have  ball  feet,  no  two  sets  have  been  found  to  be  made  just  alike. 
The  front  feet  only  are  the  ball  shape,  the 
rear  ones  straight  and  slender.  This  kas 
very  probably  represents  the  finest  of  the 
cupboards  in  use  among  the  Dutch,  and  the 
tradition  in  the  Beekman  family  is  that  it 
came  to  New  York  with  the  first  Beekman 
in  Governor  Stuyvesant's  ship  in  the  year 
1647.  The  piece  is  certainly  of  Holland 
origin,  and  could  date  as  early  as  the  tra- 
dition states. 

The  records  of  New  York  speak  of 
"  sfreat  black  walnut  kosses,"  referrine  to 
such  cupboards  as  this. 

As  far  as  the  writer  can  ascertain, 
these  kasses  were  the  only  style  of  large 
cupboard  known  or  used  by  the  Dutch,  and 
their  character  is  certainly  quite  different 
from  that  of  similar  pieces  in  the  New 
England  colonies. 

An  interesting    little    piece    of  Dutch 
carving  found    at    Coxsackie,    New   York, 
which    now   belongs  to  the   writer,    is  shown   in    Figure   67.       The 
wood  is  beech,  and  the  design  is  not  at  all  common  in  this  coun- 


■     !.'(  •\'*    >'}    >'S    'J    '.'    N<        ' 


-m'-i>:^(^ 


.if        r   ^         ( 


Figure  67. 

Carved  Spoon-rack, 
about  1675. 


COLONIAL     I<  L  R  N  I  'I-  I'  R  E 

try.  The  three  narrow  shelves  are  each  pierced  with  five  oval  open- 
ings designed  to  hold  spoons.  The  wood  of  the  shelves  around 
these  openings  is  much  worn  l)y  long  years  of  use.  These  spoon- 
racks  are  mentioned  in  some  of  the  early  Dutch  records,  called  by 
their  Dutch  name,  Icpcl-hortics.  The  Dutch  with  their  housewifely 
tastes  loved  to  have  their  walls  adorned  with  bright  pewter  and  china, 
and  devised  shelves  of  various  kinds  for  the  holding  of  these  valued 


Figure  68.  , 

Panelled  Cii[)board,  1740-50. 


articles.    "  A  painted  wooden  rack  to  sett  china  ware  in  "  is  mentioned 
at  New  York  in  1696. 

A  simple  panelled  cupboard  of  maple,  which  was  probably  made 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

before  i  750,  as  is  indicated  by  the  style  of  the  panels  and  the  simple 
bracket  foot,  is  shown  in  Figure  68.  This  perhaps  represents  the 
latest  style  of  standing  cupboards  that  were  used  to  any  extent,  and 
though  they  were  quite  common,  very  few  have  been  preserved.  The 
hinges  and  handles  are  new  ;  the  hinges  were  iron,  and  the  handles 
a  simple  willow  pattern.  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Luke  A. 
Lockwood,  of  Riverside,  Connecticut. 


higure  69. 
Chest  of  Drawers  with  Cupboard  Top,  about  1780. 


Chests  of  drawers  with  cupboard  tops  were  much  used  during 
the  latter  halt  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  cupboards  were  fur- 
nished with  three  or  four  shelves,  and  were  decorated  with  both  carv- 
ing and  inlay,  while  the  chest  of  drawers  portion  followed  various 
fashions  of  feet  and  handles,  the  earliest  having  ball-and-claw  feet 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

and  no  inlay.  One  of  these  cupboards  is  shown  in  Figure  69,  which 
is  made  of  French  walnut,  and  beautifully  inlaid  in  borders  and 
medallions  with  colored  woods.  These  chests  of  drawers  with  cup- 
board tops  are  sometimes  called  kasses,  erroneously,  for  they  are  not 
of  Dutch  origin,  but  are  distinctly  English,  and  do  not  date  earlier 
than  1740.  Chippendale  gives  several  designs  for  them  in  his  "Gen- 
tleman's and  Cabinet-Maker's  Director." 

Something  should  perhaps  be  said  of  the  length  of  time  that  cup- 
boards remained  in  fashion  —  much  longer,  no  doubt,  in  the  villages 
than  in  the  towns,  where  a  change  of  fashion  was  followed  more  closely. 
At  Boston  the  records  begin  to  speak  of  chests  of  drawers  on  frames 
about  1680,  and  we  may  date  the  decline  of  cupboards  from  this  time, 
though  in  some  parts  of  New  England  they  continued  to  be  made  for 
some  twenty  years  or  more.  A  will  dated  at  New  York  in  i  708  speci- 
fies that  the  wife  of  the  testator  shall  be  allowed  to  take  "  a  new  cubbard 
that  is  now  amaking  by  Mr.  Shaveltie"  ;  and  Mrs.  Vanderbilt's  "  Social 
History  of  Flatbush  "  mentions  a  Dutch  cupboard  which  sold  for  £4.  in 
1790.  At  Philadelphia,  which  was  not  settled  until  1682,  the  records 
make  very  little  mention  of  cupboards.  From  1683  until  1720  only 
six  are  found,  all  valued  very  low,  and  described  as  old  or  old- 
fashioned.  On  the  other  hand,  chests  of  drawers  and  tables  are  freely 
mentioned,  showing  that  the  cupboards  were  superseded  by  the  high 
chests  of  drawers  which  came  into  use  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

About  the  years  1725-30  houses  with  panelled  walls  and  with 
cupboards  built  in  to  match  the  panelling  were  quite  generally  the 
style  throughout  the  colonies.  The  majority  of  these  cupboards 
were  fastened  into  side  walls,  and  were  not,  therefore,  movable  ;  but 
some,  especially  in  the  South,  were  fine  pieces  of  workmanship  with 
scroll  tops  and  detached.  The  dining-room  often  had  a  corner  cupboard 
or  buffet,  while  the  house  throughout  was  supplied  liberally  with  cup- 
boards skilfully  placed  in  various  ways  in  the  panelling  of  the  walls. 

104 


Figure  70. 
"Beaufatt"  and  Wall  Panelling,  about  1740. 


105 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

Corner  cupboards  appear  in  the  inventories  earlier  than  buffets,  and 
are  evidently  not  the  same  thing,  as  their  values  are  much  lower ;  two 
at  Boston,  one  in  i  720  and  the  other  in  1725,  are  valued,  respectively, 
at  7s.  and  3s.,  two  at  Philadelphia  as  late  as  1750  are  valued  at  los.  and 
I  2s.,  while  buffets  are  almost  invariably  valued  at  more  than  a  pound, 
and  often  at  two  or  three  pounds  and  higher.     Thus  at  Yorktown, 


^^■I^^IIH 

m 

■  -.; ; 

41 

iii 

\                 * 

^^^i 

^^^H 

Figure   71. 

Corner  "  Beaufatt,"  about  1740. 

Virginia,  are  mentioned  in  1745,  "  i  beaufet  ^i  los,"  1753,  "  i  un- 
finished beaufet  ^'5  los,"  and  one  in  1763  valued  at  /^7  los.  The 
buffets  were  usually  corner  pieces,  but  sometimes  recessed  into  the  side 

walls.    They  were  furnished  with  a  door  or  doors,  the  upper  portion  of 

107 


C  O  L  O  X  I  A  1.     !•  I'  R  N  I  T  I'  R  K 

which  was  glass,  and  the  lower  panelled  to  match  the  room.  The 
shelves  of  the  upper  cupboard  are  cut  in  graceful  curves,  and  the  top 
at  the  back  is  often  finished  with  a  shell,  sometimes  cut  from  a  solid, 
very  thick  piece  of  wood. 

Figure  70  shows  a  buffet  which  was  built  into  the  side  wall  of  a 
house  in  Connecticut,  and  this,  with  the  panelling  for  the  whole  side 
of  the  room,  is  owned  by  Mr.  Meggat.  The  cupboard,  as  well  as  the 
other  woodwork  of  the  room,  was  never  painted,  and  the  pine  has 
acquired  a  soft  yellowish  color  with  age. 

A  corner  buffet,  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Albert  H.  Pitkin,  of 
Hartford,  which  also  came  from  a  house  in  Connecticut,  is  shown  in 
Figure  71.  The  cupboard  portion  is  made  separate  from  the  outer 
portion,  to  which  the  doors,  panelled  like  it,  are  attached,  leaving  a 
space  of  about  four  inches  between  the  two.  These  buffets  were  com- 
monly called  "beaufatts,"  "beaufets,"  or  "beaufats,"  and  a  village  in 
the  vicinity  of  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  has  acquired  the  name 
Beaufat  from  the  fact  that  one  of  these  cupboards,  which  was  considered 
quite  remarkable,  was  built  into  a  house  there. 

A  fine  example  of  the  woodwork  of  this  period  is  shown  in  Figure 
72,  a  cupboard  presented  to  the  old  Philadelphia  Library  Building 
by  John  Penn  in  1738.  The  broken-arch  cornice  with  the  urn,  which 
was  very  fashionable  for  interior  woodwork  at  this  time,  is  well  illus- 
trated in  this  piece. 

SIDEBOARDS 

Sideboards  as  we  know  them  are  comparatively  recent  inven- 
tions belonging  to  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
court  and  livery  cupboards  were  extensively  used  in  the  dining-rooms, 
or  "parlours,"  as  they  were  generally  called,  their  drawers  and  com- 
partments making  a  convenient  storing-place  for  linen  and  china, 
and  their  flat  tops  were  commonly  utilized  for  exhibiting  the  china, 

silver,    and  pewter.     When  the  oak  cupboards  were    no   longer    in 

108 


Figure   72. 

Cupboard  with  Glass  Door,  1738. 


109 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

favor,  the  corner  cupboards  or  buffets  replaced  them  and  served  the 
same  purposes.  During  this  time,  however,  when  cupboards  were 
in  general  use,  there  is  occasionally  mention  of  side  tables  and  side- 
board tables.  At  New  York,  in  1689,  mention  is  made  of  "a  side- 
board table  15s";  in  the  same  year  "i  side  table  with  a  drawer" 
cost  i8s.  ;  and  in  1677  "  four  sideboard  cloths"  are  mentioned;  and 
there  is  record  at  Boston,  in  1707,  of  "a  sideboard  table  6s." 

What  these  sideboard  tables  were  it  is  very  difficult  to  say,  as  a 
thorough  search  and  inquiry  among  collectors  have  failed  to  discover 
any  table  which  would  properly  answer  this  description.  There  are, 
however,  specimens  of  English  sideboards  extant  which  are  the  same 
style  of  furniture  as  the  panelled  chests  and  cupboards  so  common 
here.  One  of  these  may  be  seen  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum, 
which  is  a  long,  narrow  oak  table  with  three  drawers  in  a  row,  pan- 
elled after  the  fashion  of  the  drawers  in  the  cupboard  (Figure  62). 
This  stands  on  five  legs,  the  three  in  front  being  turned  and  the  two 
rear  ones  plain  and  straight;  a  heavy  stretcher  or  brace  runs  around 
the  front  and  sides  about  six  inches  from  the  floor.  There  are  two 
tables  or  sideboards  very  similar  to  this  in  the  Bolles  collection  which 
have  recently  been  brought  from  England,  and  it  was  probably  such 
pieces  as  these  that  were  referred  to  in  the  above  inventories. 

About  1 740  marble  tables  began  to  be  mentioned  as  part  of  the 
dining-room  furniture:  Boston,  1741,  "in  ye  parlour  i  marble  slab 
and  table  "  ;  in  1748,  "in  the  parlour  i  marble  table  with  mahogony 
frame";  in  1759,  "in  the  dining  room  i  marble  table  " ;  in  1767,  "i 
marble  sideboard  and  frame";  and  the  Boston  "Evening  Post"  for 
July,  1751,  advertises  "a  variety  of  fashionable  furniture  including 
stone  tables."  Chippendale's  designs,  published  in  1 754,  show  no 
sideboards  with  drawers  or  cupboards,  but  sideboard  tables  having 
marble  tops  and  elaborately  carved  mahogany  frames.  The  fashion 
of  making  the  sideboard  tops  of  marble  was  certainly  a  practical  one, 
far  better  adapted  for  serving  purposes  than  the  polished  wood  tops 


COLONIAL     I'  V  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

so  sensitive  to  heat  and  moisture.  As  the  Enghsh  fashions  were  so 
closely  followed  here,  the  entries  quoted  above  we  believe  to  have 
reference  to  such  marble-topped  serving-tables  as  Chippendale  made 
use  of.  For  some  reason  these  too  seem  to  have  disappeared,  per- 
haps because  the  weight  of  the  marble  tops  strained  the  frames  to 
an  extent  which  made  them  particularly  likely  to  become  broken, 
and  so  they  were  discarded. 

The  first  style  of  sideboard  which  is  now  found  in  this  country 
is  the  slender-legged  inlaid  mahogany  one  commonly  credited  to 
Chippendale.  It  is,  however,  not  in  any  sense  Chippendale  either  in 
design  or  workmanship.  The  statement  is  repeatedly  met  with,  and 
usually  supported  by  traditions  as  to  date  of  importation  or  purchase, 
that  sideboards  of  this  kind  date  before  i  750.  This  seems  practi- 
cally impossible,  as  there  is  no  trace  of  any  furniture  made  with  a 
straight,  tapering  leg,  and  decorated  with  inlay,  as  these  sideboards 
invariably  were,  as  early  as  1750.  The  fact  seems  to  be  that  this 
fashion  originated  with  an  English  designer  named  Thomas  Shearer, 
a  member  of  the  London  Society  of  Cabinet-makers,  whose  book  of 
prices  was  published  in  1788.  Mr.  \V.  K.  Clouston,  in  his  book  on 
"The  Chippendale  Period  in  English  Furniture,"  gives  the  credit  of 
the  designs  therein  shown  for  serpentine  inlaid  sideboards  to  Shearer, 
whose  name  they  bear,  though  Hepplewhite  was  also  a  member  of 
this  society,  and  at  this  time  seems  to  have  been  working  with  Shearer. 
In  his  own  book  of  designs,  published  a  little  later,  Hepplewhite 
adopts  this  same  fashion  in  his  sideboards,  and  as  his  reputation 
seems  to  have  much  outlasted  Shearer's,  they  generally  bear  his 
name.  The  book  of  prices  gives  this  interesting  list  of  woods  which 
were  principally  employed  by  these  makers  for  marquetry  and  inlay: 
"satin  wood,  either  solid  or  veneered,  manilla,  safisco,  havannah, 
king,  tulip,  rose,  purple,  snake,  alexandria,  panella,  yew  and  maple," 
the  principal  wood  being,  of  course,  always  mahogany.  Great  num- 
bers of  sideboards  made  after  these  designs  are  still  to  be  seen  in  this 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

countrv,  which  were  undoubtedly  made  here,  judging  from  the  fact 
tiiat  the  veneering  is  on  pine,  and  the  insides  of  tlie  drawers  and  back 
arc  of  the  same  wood.  The  outlines  of  the  fronts  and  sides  are  varied 
in  many  ways,  as  is  also  the  arrangement  of  drawers  and  cupboards. 
The  inlay  also  is  sometimes  but  an  outline  of  holly  and  satinwood 
around  the  top,  drawer-fronts,  and  legs,  and  sometimes  quite  elabo- 
rate marquetry  designs  in  many-colored  woods  are  used.  The 
handles  are  almost  invariably  the  brass  ones  with  oval  plates. 


Figure  73. 

Hepplewhite  Sideboard,  1 790-1800. 

A  Shearer  or  Hepplewhite  sideboard  of  very  graceful  design, 
belonging  to  Mr.  L.  A.  Lockwood,  is  shown  in  Figure  'J2>-  The 
front  is  serpentine  in  shape,  an  e.xtra  curve  being  added  below  its 
two  centre  drawers ;  the  drawer-fronts  and  top  are  veneered  in  very 
finely  grained  mahogany  on  whitewood.  This  is  usually  the  case,  a 
sideboard  of  this  kind  beinof  seldom  met  with  where  the  drawer-fronts 
are  solid.  The  fan  inlay  in  the  corners  of  drawers  and  cupboard 
doors,  as  well  as  the  wreath  design  on  the  legs,  is  characteristic. 
At  least  one  drawer  is  usually  arranged  in  sections  to  hold  bottles. 

113 


C  O  L  O  \M  A  L     1^-  V  R  N  I    I'  U  R  E 

Figure  74,  the  effect  of  which  is  very  iiuich  marred  by  the  cheap 
modern  handles,  is  also  a  fine  example  of  Hepplewhite  sideboard, 
belonging  to  Mr.  Ethridge,  of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Each  drawer 
has  a  panel   in   light    mahogany  bordered    with   fine  lines  of  inlay 


Figure  74. 

Hepplewhite  Sideboard,  i  790-1800. 
(Handles  new.) 


in  white  holly  and  ebony;  the  edge  of  the  drawer  outside  of  the 
panel  is  in  dark  mahogany,  thus  giving  a  very  fine  effect.  The 
small  oval  panels  set  into  the  stiles  above  the  legs  are  in  satinwood. 
The  narrow  drawers  each  side  of  the  centre  cupboards  are  in  this 
piece  the  bottle  drawers.     The  knife-  or  spoon-boxes  shown  on  the 

114 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

top  of  this  sideboard  were  very  generally  made  to  accompany  them, 
and  are  usually  fine  pieces  of  cabinet  wood  beautifully  inlaid ;  the 
inside  is  arranged  with  a  wooden  section  set  on  a  slant  pierced  in 
proper  shapes  for  the  holding  of  knives  and  spoons,  and  often  each 
little  hole  is  surrounded  with  a  fine  band  of  inlay.  The  handles  and 
escutcheons  are  sometimes  silver. 


m 


r 


sn 


W  "^1 


Figure  75. 
Hepplewhite  Sideboard,  i  799. 


A  sideboard  which  was  part  of  the  wedding  outfit  of  Mr.  John 
Williams,  of  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  in  1799,  and  now  owned  by 
his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  W.  W.  Andrews,  is  shown  in  Figure  75. 
The  flip-glasses,  tea-caddy,  and  silver  shown  with  it  belonged  also  to 
Mr.  Williams.  The  large  square  drawers  are  bottle  drawers,  and 
still  contain  the  silver  crescent-shaped  markers  which   hung  over  the 

n5 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  X  I  T  I'  R  E 

necks  of  the  bottles.  The  inlay  in  this  piece  is  but  a  fine  line  follow- 
ing the  outlines  of  the  top,  drawers,  and  frame  ;  the  legs  have  the 
little  wreath  which  is  almost  never  omitted.  The  brass  handles  are 
the  original  ones,  and  have  stamped  on  them  a  basket  with  a 
pineapple  projecting  from  it. 

Sideboards  of  which  the  three  above  shown  are  types  remained 
in  favor  for  a  considerable  period.  They  probably  were  known  and 
used  here  at  about  the  same  date  as  in  England,  and  if  we  deduct  ten 


Figure  76. 
Sheraton  Sideboard,  about  1800. 

years  from  the  date  of  the  published  design,  on  a  reasonable  supposi- 
tion that  they  may  have  been  already  executed  before  the  designs 
were  published,  1778  would  be  as  early  a  date  as  we  should  obtain 
for  the  introduction  of  this  style.  That  they  were  made  as  late  as 
1804  is  certain,  for  the  writer  has  seen  a  bill  for  a  sideboard  very 
similar  to  Figure  75  dated  in  that  year. 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 


These  sideboards  average  about  six  feet  in  length  and  twenty- 
four  inches  in  width,  though  they  were  made  in  many  shapes  and 
sizes,  sometimes  in  miniature,  and  occasionally  one  is  seen  which  is 
made  to  fit  the  corner  of  a  room,  the  top  being  triangular. 

In  1 791  Thomas  Sheraton,  of  London,  published  a  book  containing 
a  number  of  designs  for  sideboards.  He  professes  great  dislike  for 
Hepplewhite's  work,  but  nevertheless  his  designs  show  the  influence 
of  that  maker.  He  made  great  use  of  the  slender  fluted  leg  in  place 
of  the  square  tapering  one,  and  used  inlay  both  in  wood  and  metal. 
Some  of  his  extravagant  pieces  are  elaborately  painted  and  trimmed 
with  brass. 

The  majority  of  sideboards  in  this  country  which  are  modelled  after 
his  designs  are  comparatively  plain,  most  of  them  having  no  inlay. 

A  sideboard  that  may  be  properly  called  American  Sheraton, 
which  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat,  is  shown  in  Figure  76.  The  knife- 
boxes  are  attached  to  the  top,  and  furnished  with  sliding 
scroll  covers.  Two  small  drawers  pull  out  from  the  ends 
of  these,  as  shown  in  the  illustration.  Many  sideboards 
similar  to  this  in  general  style  are  found  which  have, 
instead  of  the  attached  knife-boxes,  the  end  sections 
raised  about  four  inches  above  the  centre,  probably 
designed  to  hold  knife-boxes  in  urn  shape,  one  of  which 
is  shown  in  Figure  ']•]. 

The  top  of  these  urn-shaped  boxes  is  not  on  a  hinge, 
but  is  supported  by  a  rod  of  wood  running  through  the 
centre,  which,  when  the  top  is  raised  sufficiently,  releases 
a  spring,  thus  holding  the  top  in  that  position.  This 
box  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat.  The  fashion  of  making 
the  knife-boxes  in  urn  shape  is  not  original  with  Shera- 
ton, as  it  had  been  extensively  used  by  other  English  cabinet-makers 
before  this  time.  They  are  very  fine  specimens  of  cabinet  work,  the 
fitting  of  the  graduated  sections  requiring  a  skilful  workman. 


Fiyure  77. 

Knife-  and 
Spoon-box, 
last  quarter 

eighteenth 
ccntiirv. 


"7 


C  O  L  O  X  I  A  L     F  I'  R  X  I  T  U  R  E 

A  sideboard  very  much  like  one  of  tlie  designs  in  Sheraton's 
book,  except  that  it  is  much  simpHfied,  is  shown  in  Figure  78.  The 
drawers  are  decorated  witli  a  narrow  inlay  strip,  and  the  handles  are 


Figure  78. 
Sheraton  Sideboard,  about  1800. 


the  rosette  and  ring,  which  in  many  styles  and  sizes  were  much  used 
by  Sheraton  on  furniture  of  all  kinds. 

The  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Sheraton  sideboards  in  this 
country  is  the  slender  fluted  legs.  Whenever  this  is  met  with  it  shows 
his  influence.  The  two  sideboards  here  shown  represent  fairly  well  the 
general  character  of  American  Sheraton,  though,  of  course,  endless 
variations  in  shape,  size,  and  arrangement  are  to  be  tound.  The 
wood  is  always  mahogany. 

With  the  decline  in  favor  of  early  Sheraton  designs,  about  the 
year  1800,  the  character  of  construction  for  furniture  in  general  is 
radically  changed.  The  graceful  effects  obtained  by  the  use  of  the 
slender,  square,  and  fluted  legs  were  entirely  lost  by  the  substitution 
of  the  massive  round  or  rope-carved  pillars,  extending  nearly  to  the 
floor,  and  finished  with  the  bear-  or  lion's-claw  foot.  This  massive 
design  was  adopted  from  the  French  Empire  style,  but  the  Amer- 


iiS 


CUPBOARDS  AND  SIDEBOARDS 

ican  makers  omitted  the  elaborate  trimmings  in  brass  and  ormolu 
and  depended  for  effect  upon  the  grain  of  the  wood  and  the 
heavy  carving.  In  the  vocabulary  of  the  dealer  of  to-day,  the  term 
colonial  is  applied  to  this  plain  and  massive  style — a  misapplied 
name,    for  the   fashion   was   not    known    until    some    time    after  the 


Figure  79. 
Empire  Sideboard,  1810-20. 

American  colonies  had  become  states.     The  sideboards  in  Empire 

style  are  almost  always   furnished   with   three  drawers  beneath  the 

top,   the    fronts    of  which    are    sometimes    made    on   a    curve ;     the 

handles  are  rosette  and   ring,   lion-head  and  ring,  and   the  brass  or 

glass  rosette.     The  doors  of  the   cupboards   which    filled    the  lower 

portion  are  nearly  always  panelled,  often  in  oval  or  Gothic  form,  as  is 

119 


C  O  L  O  \'  I  A  L     I-  L'  R  N  I  T  U  R  l- 

also  the  board  which  finishes  the  back  of  the  top.  Veneering  is  used 
extensively  to  obtain  elaborate  grain  eiTects,  and  the  mahogany  used 
is  very  fine.  Trimmings  in  brass  are  occasionally  employed,  but  the 
majority  make  use  of  panelling  and  carving  for  decorative  purposes. 

Figure  79  shows  an  Empire  sideboard  of  conventional  design 
having  the  rope-carved  column  extending  to  the  floor,  forming  the 
feet.  The  backboard  makes  use  of  a  style  of  broken  arch  which  was 
quite  often  used  with  the  Empire  designs,  although  it  is  a  survival  of 
a  much  earlier  style. 


Fisrure  So. 


Empire  Sideboard,  iSio-^o. 


Figure  80  illustrates  very  well  the  circular  pillars  and  bear-claw 
feet  which  are  most  characteristic  of  American  Empire  furniture  in 
general.  Sideboards  constructed  after  the  fashion  of  this  one  are 
commonly  without  the  raised  drawers  at  the  end,  and  are  often  fur- 
nished with  a  serving-board  which  pulls  out  from  beneath  the  top  at 


V 
CHAIRS 

IT  is  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  give  the  exact  date 
when  a  particular  style  of  chair  appeared  or  disappeared ;  still, 
the  subject  divides  itself  rather  naturally  into  periods  correspond- 
ing with  certain  political  events  at  the  beginning  of  which  the  influ- 
ence was  first  felt,  and  the  end  represents  the  time  when  the  style 
began  to  be  called  old-fashioned.  The  dates  will,  however,  be  some- 
what arbitrary,  and  it  may  happen  that  in  a  few  sporadic  cases  the  style 
appeared  slightly  earlier  or  lasted  slightly  later;  but  in  the  main  it 
will  be  found  accurate,  and  a  convenient  method  of  fixing  styles  with 
date. 

The  First  Period  will  be  from  1620  to  1660,  the  date  of  the  acces- 
sion of  Charles  11. 

The  Second  Period,  1660  to  1702,  the  date  ot  the  accession  of 
Anne. 

The  Third  Period,  1702  to  1750,  when  the  influence  of  Chippen- 
dale began  to  be  felt  in  this  country. 

The  Fourth  Period,  1750  to  1840,  the  period  of  cabinet-makers. 

Between  the  Second  and  Third  Periods  will  be  added  a  Tran- 
sition Period  which  overlaps  both. 

No  single  rule,  of  course,  can  be  laid  down  that  will  enable  one 
to  tell  the  age  of  a  given  chair,  as  there  are  many  elements  which 
enter  to  determine  it;    but  a  fairly  safe  guide  to  follow  is  that  the 

123 


C  O  L  O  N  I  A  L     F  U  R  N  I  T  V  R  E 

heavier  the  underbracing  the  greater  the  age.  Strength  was,  we 
may  presume,  the  maker's  end  in  view,  for  a  glance  at  the  soHd  backs 
and  seats  or  the  heavy  bracing,  and  an  attempt  to  lift  one  of  the 
wainscot  chairs,  will  convince  one  that  so  far  as  lasting  qualities  were 
concerned  they  left  little  to  be  desired. 


FIRST  PERIOD— 1620-60 

We  find  chairs  mentioned  sparsely  in  the  earliest  inventories  of 
New  England  and  the  South,  for  they  were  not  yet  in  common  use  in 
England,  and  the  idea  of  the  chair  being  a  seat  of  honor  was  still 
general.  "The  Gate  of  Language  Unlocked"  (sixth  edition,  printed 
at  London  in  1643)  s:ates  the  following:  "The  chair  belongeth  to 
the  teacher,  the  lower  seats  (fourms  &  benches)  to  the  learner." 
Forms  were  for  many  years  used  almost  exclusively  in  the  place  of 
chairs,  and  we  constantly  find  mention  of  "short  form"  and  "long 
form  and  table  "  in  tlie  inventories.  These  forms  were  popular  in 
England,  and  were  probably  similar  to  those  still  found  in  the  dining- 
halls  of  some  of  the  English  colleges  and  schools,  benches  heavily 
supported,  as  shown  in  Figure  S3,  which  is  the  dining-hall  at  Christ 
Church  College,  Oxford. 

The  short  form  was  a  short  bench,  sometimes  called  in  the  inven- 
tories joined  stool,  for  the  ends  of  the  tables,  and  the  long  forms  were 
used  on  the  long  sides,  those  shown  in  Figure  83  all  being  long  forms. 
Thus  we  find  at  New  York,  in  1680,  "a  long  table  and  2  long  formes," 
one  apparently  for  each  side  of  the  table;  at  Providence,  in  17 12, 
occurs  the  following  entry  of  furniture  in  the  parlor:  "a  great  table, 
3  formes,  a  great  chair  and  2  cushions,"  a  form  for  each  side  and  one 
end,  and  the  chair  for  the  head  of  the  house,  with  one  cushion  for  the 
seat  of  the  chair  and  the  other  for  a  footstool. 

In  nearly  all  of  the  early  inventories  we  find  stools  and  joined 

stools  commonly  mentioned;  thus,  at  Plymouth,  in  1641,   "2  joined 

124 


o 


00        U 


u 


125 


CHAIRS 

stools,"  and  in  the  same  inventory  "4  joyned  stools  and  2  joined 
chairs,"  which  recalls  a  definition  in  Watts's  "  Logick,  '  written  early 
in  the  eighteenth  century:  "if  a  chair  be  defined  a  seat,  for  a  single 
person,  with  a  back  belonging  to  it,  then  a  stool  is  a  seat  for  a  single 
person,  without  a  back."  We  also  find  the  expression  joint  or 
"joynt  '  stools,  which  old  dictionaries  define  as  folding  three-legged 
stools.     Thus  at  New  York,  in  1677,  we  find  "the  table  in  the  parlor 


Figure  84. 
Turned  Chair,  sixteenth  century. 

and  the  five  joynt  stools";  at  Yorktown,  in  1658,  "3  joint  stools"; 
at  Philadelphia,  in  1694,  "3  old  3  legged  stools."  A  description  of 
such  stools  is  given  by  Cowper  in  "The  Task": 

"  Joint  stools  were  then  created  ;  on  three  legs 

Upborne  tliey  stood  ;    three  legs  upholding  firm 
A  massy  slab." 


COLONIAL     I-  I'  R  N  I  T  li  R  E 


Stools  continued  to  be  used  all 
through  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  although  they  are  abundantly 
mentioned  in  the  inventories,  they 
are  to-day  extremely  rare,  and  few 
are  to  be  found  in  this  country, 
although  many  are  still  to  be  seen 
in  England. 

There  seem  to  have  been  at 
least  three  styles  of  chairs  in  the 
period  under  consideration. 

First,  the  turned  chair,  usu- 
ally made  of  ash,  although  some 
are  found  with  maple  posts  and 
hickory  spindles.     They  are  made 


Figure  86. 
Turned  Chair,  i  575-1620. 


Figure  85. 
Turned  Chair,  i  575-1620. 

1  entirely  of  turned  pieces,  and  differed 
in  degree  of  beauty  according  as  the 
spindles  were  elaborated. 

Figure  84  is  probably  one  of  the 
oldest  chairs  in  this  country.  It  be- 
longs to  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society,  and  by  the  best  authorities 
has  been  assigned  to  the  early  six- 
teenth century. 

Figures    85    and    86    are    Elder 
128 


CHAIRS 

Brewster's  and  Governor  Carver's  chairs  respectively,  and  were,  ac- 
cording to  tradition,  brought  over  in  the  Mayflower.  They  are  at 
Pilgrim  Hall,  Plymouth,  and  probably  date  the  latter  part  of  the 
sixteenth  or  early  seventeenth  century.  Elder  Brewster's  chair  is 
particularly  handsome,  originally  having  had  on  the  sides  a  double 
row  of  spindles  about  the  legs  between  the  braces  similar  to  the 
back.     Both  pieces  originally  had  flag  or  rush  seats. 

Chairs  in  the  fashion  of  Figure  86  are  commonly  known  as 
"  Carver  chairs,"  and  are  more  frequently  met  with  than  any  other  pat- 
tern of  the  turned  chair.  They  are  found  in  at  least  two  sizes,  Figure 
86  representing  the  larger,  and  such  chairs  vary  from  about  43  to  47 
inches  in  height;  the  seat  is  usually  18  inches  from  the  floor,  the  width 
of  the  seat  in  front  is  from  20  to  22  inches,  while  the  posts  in  the 
largest  place  measure  from  6>^  to  8  inches  in  circumference.  It  is 
generally  believed  that  the  greater  the  circumference  of  the  post,  the 
older  the  chair. 

The  smaller  size,  shown  in  Figure  87,  is  43  inches  high  from  the 
floor  to  the  top  of  the  back  post;  the  seat  in  front  is  18  inches  wide, 
and  the  circumference  of  the  post  at  the  largest  place  is  6  inches.  As 
the  legs  of  this  chair  had  been  cut  off,  it  is  impossible  to  know  exactly 
what  its  original  height  was;  it  probably  stood  about  an  inch  higher, 
making  the  seat  about  18  or  19  inches  from  the  floor.  This  chair 
was  found  at  Guilford,  Connecticut,  and  belongs  to  the  author.  The 
small  size  appears  to  be  less  common  than  the  larger,  and  is  occa- 
sionally found  as  a  side  chair.  These  chairs  are  referred  to  in  the 
inventories  as  follows:  at  Plymouth,  1643,  "  2  flag  bottomed  chairs  & 
I  frame  for  a  chair  ";  Salem,  1673,  "3  turned  chairs  " ;  Boston,  1698, 
"5  straw  bottomed  chairs";  1699,  "  i  great  turned  chair";  New 
York,  1685,  "9  Mat  bottomed  chairs";  1680,  "a  high  Matted  chair 
&  an  elbow  matted  chair";  1692,  "12  chairs  latticed  with  reeds"; 
Philadelphia,  1709,  "  2  turned  chairs,  one  armed";  and  at  Yorktown, 
Virginia,  1667,  "5  old  bulrush  chairs." 

129 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


These  turned  chairs  are  also  found  with  slats  across  the  back  in- 
stead of  turned  spindles ;  but  as  the  large  majority  of  the  slat-back 
pieces  belong  to  a  later  date,  we  will  postpone  the  discussion  of  them. 

Chairs  with  large  turned  posts 
were  also  made  with  but  one  leg  in  the 
back  and  two  in  front,  having  triangu- 
lar seats.  They  were  not  very  com- 
mon, however,  in  this  country  ;  but  a 
very  fine  specimen  is  the  well-known 
"  Harvard  College  Chair."  Mention 
of  such  chairs  probably  appears  in  a 
Salem  inventory  in  1673, —  "3  bufet 
chairs  12s," — for  in  the  "  Promptua- 
rium  Parvulorum "  of  Galfridus,  pub- 
lished in  the  sixteenth  century,  is  the 
following  definition  :  "  Bofet,  thre 
fotyd   stole." 

The  question  is  often  asked 
whether  the  turned  chairs  came  origi- 
nally from  England  or  Holland.  We 
are  inclined  to  believe  that  they  are 
Enelish,  for  we  know  of  two,  much 
like  the  Carver  chair,  which  have  been  handed  down  in  an  English 
family  of  the  working  class,  and  we  are  told  that  there  are  more 
among  that  class  there;  and,  further,  in  1645  Mrs.  Margaret  Lake, 
sister-in-law  to  Governor  Winthrop,  sent  to  England  for  "  2  armed 
cheares  with  fine  rushe  bottums,"  and  turned  chairs  are  the  only 
variety  in  use  at  that  time  that  could  have  had  rush  seats. 

The  second  style,  the  wainscot  chair,  was  made  of  oak,  as  the 
name  implies,  and  was  usually  more  or  less  carved,  having  heavy 
bracing  near  the  floor.  The  seats,  of  hard  oak  slabs,  were  often 
made  more  comfortable  with  cushions,  which   are   frequently   men- 


Figure  87. 

Turned  Chair,  first  quarter 
seventeenth  century. 


CHAIRS 

tioned  in  the  inventories  in  connection  with  the  chairs,  as  in  Salem, 
in  1644,  "2  cheares  &  two  cushans  " ;  also  the  following  entries  refer 
to  these  chairs:   Plymouth,  1634,  "a  joyned  chair";    1682,  "a  chair 


Figure  88. 
Wainscot  Chair,  about  1600. 


and  cushion";  at  New  York,  1691,  "  7  chairs  and  four  old  cushions  "  ; 
at  Philadelphia,  1694,  "4  framed  oak  chairs  and  cushions";  1695, 
"large  oak  arm  chair  and  cushion";  at  Providence,  171 2,  "a  great 
chair  and  2  cushions";  1727,  "2  cushons  for  grate  chear " ;  1730, 
"a  greate  cheiar  and  quoshen " ;  at  Yorktown,  Virginia,   1658,   "2 

131 


COLONIAL     FUR  NM  TURK 


3   wainscoate   chairs. 


They  are  also 


wainscoate   chairs";     1659, 

frequently  referred  to  as  wooden  chairs. 

There  is  mention  of  the  wainscot  chairs  in  the  English  inven- 
tories in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  and  they  were  prob- 
ably more  generally  used  there  than  here,  comparatively  few  being 
mentioned  in  the  New  England  inventories,  although  a  fairly  large 
number  are  mentioned  in  those  of  the  South.  They  are  valued  from 
two  to  three  times  as  much  as  the  turned  chairs,  which  undoubtedly 
accounts  for  this  fact.  The  chairs,  when  carved,  show  the  same  de- 
signs as  the  chests  and  cupboards  of  the  period. 

Figure  88  is  now  in  Essex  Institute,  Salem,  and  according  to 
tradition  is  Elizabethan ;  the  carving  would  seem  to  bear  this  tradi- 
tion out.  It  is  an  unusually  hand- 
some piece,  the  carving  being  both 
elaborate  and  well  executed,  and 
it  is  evident  that  the  chair  must 
have  belonged  to  a  family  of  some 
consequence. 

Figure  89  was  made  at  Cheap- 
side,  London,  in  1614,  and  was 
used  by  Governor  Winslow,  in  1633, 
in  his  council-chamber.  The  piece 
is  a  good  example  of  the  simpler 
form  of  this  chair. 

Figure  90  was  brought  to  this 
country  in  1660,  but  belongs  to  an 
earlier  date.  The  carved  panel  is 
in  the  same  design  found  in  many 
of  the  cupboards  and  chests,  and  is 
similar  to  that  shown  in  Figure  5.  Both  of  these  chairs  are  at 
Pilgrim  Hall,  Plymouth. 

A   very  beautiful  wainscot  chair,  in  the   Bulkeley  collection,  is 


Figure  8g. 
Wainscot  Chair,  1614. 


CHAIRS 

shown  in  Figure  91,  which  came  originally  from  Massachusetts.  The 
carving  is  of  the  earliest  patterns,  reeding,  half-circles,  and  geometri- 
cal designs.  The  top  very  clearly  suggests  the  broken  arch.  It 
dates  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 


Figure  90. 

Wainscot  Chair,  1600-20. 

Figure  92  is  an  example  of  another  chair  of  this  period  which 
was  commonly  called  a  chair-table.  A  glance  at  the  arms  and  under- 
bracing  shows  that  it  belongs  to  the  wainscot  type.  As  the  name 
implies,  when  the  back  is  turned  down  it  becomes  a  table.  We  find 
mentioned,  in  a  Salem  inventory  of  1673,  "a  chair  table  7s  6d," 
and  again  in  1690,  and  at  Yorktown,  Virginia,  1666,  "  i  table 
chair,"  and  in  1675,  "one  new  chair  table  8s."  This  chair  is  prac- 
tically the  same  as  the  famous  Theodore  Hook  chair,  although  it 
is  not  carved. 

133 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


The  third  style,  which  may  be  called  a  modification  of  the  wain- 
scot, is  the  leather  chair,  which  dates  a  litde  later,  and   by  some   is 

called  Cromwellian,  although  it  ap- 
pears in  the  inventories  in  this 
country  a  little  earlier  than  his  time. 
It  was  really  of  Italian  design,  com- 
ing to  England  through  Holland  dur- 
ing   the    Commonwealth,    and    very 


Figure  92. 

Chair-table,  1660-80. 


Figure  91. 

Wainscot  Chair, 
first  half  seventeenth  century. 


likely  reached  the  Pilgrims, 
who  had  come  from  Holland, 
earlier    than    it    did    England, 

for  we  find  these  chairs  first  mentioned  at  Plymouth  as  early  as  1643  : 
"3  leather  chairs,  3  small  leather  chairs  £1  los."  We  continue  to 
find  them  mentioned  freely  until  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
as  in  the  inventory  of  the  famous  Captain  Kidd,  at  New  York, 
1692,  "two  dozen  single  nailed  leather  chairs,  £\  i6s";  and  in 
New  York,    1703,   "8  leather  cheares  very  old,"  undoubtedly  refer- 

134 


CHAIRS 

ring  to  chairs  similar  to  that  shown  in  Figure  93,  or  to  those  with 
turned  frames. 

In  general  style  the  leather  chair  was  like  the  wainscot  chair, 
the  square  back  and  seat  being  covered  with  leather,  the  edges  often 


Figure  93. 

Leather  Chair,  about  1640. 

Studded  with  brass  nails.       The    underbracing,    at    first  heavy   and 
plain,  was  a  little  later  turned. 

Figure  93,  belonging  to  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
is  a  good  example  of  a  leather  chair.  It  has  a  carved  leather  back 
and  plain  leather  seat.  The  underbrace  suggests  the  Italian  style, 
and  for  that  reason  we  place  its  date  not  later  than  1640.     This  chair 

135 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

originally  stood  somewhat  higher  from  the  floor,  but  the  legs  are 
worn  away.  Wainscot  and  leather  chairs  in  general  stood  much 
higher  from  the  floor  than  either  the  turned  ones  or  those  appearing 
later ;  in  fact,  the  seats  are  often  as  high  as  twenty  or  twenty-two 
inches.  They  were  apparently  intended  to  be  used  with  footstools, 
as  were  the  benches,  for  wc  find  the  following  description  in  "The 
Gate  of  Lanofuaore  Unlocked,"  before  referred  to: 

"When  the  table  is  spread  with  the  table  cloth,  dishes  are  set 
upon  it  and  trenchers  '  whether  they  be  round  or  square '  and  also  a 
salt  sellar. 

"  Out  of  the  bread  basket,  loaves  (shives)  of  bread  are  set  on  the 
table,  or  pieces  '  morsels';  and  then  messes  of  meat. 

"The  ghests  that  are  bidden  are  brought  (led)  in  by  the  feast- 
maker  into  the  dining  room  (parlour)  and  when  they  have  washed 
over  a  bason  out  of  a  ewer  and  have  wiped  with  a  towell  ;  they  sit 
down  upon  benches  or  stools  set  in  order  with  cushions  having  foot 
stools  set  under  them." 

These  leather  chairs  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Spanish 
leather  chairs,  which  are  of  later  date  and  totally  different  stjle : 
Boston,  1653,  "8  red  leather  backe  chairs  and  2  low  leather  backe 
stools";  Salem,  1647,  "3  red  leather  chairs";  Boston,  1700,  "6 
russia  leather  chairs  "  ;  Philadelphia,  1683,  "14  russia  leather  chairs"; 
1686,  "6  calfe  leather  chairs";  New  York,  1691,  "3  doz.  russia 
leather  chairs";  and  Yorktown,  1668,  "6  turkey  leather  chairs." 
These  are  references,  no  doubt,  to  the  style  of  chair  shown  in  Fig- 
ure 93. 

The  York  County  (Virginia)  records  after  1660  show  that  a  large 
number  of  these  chairs  were  in  use,  one  hundred  and  three  of  them 
being  mentioned  between  the  years  1657  and  1670;  as  many  as 
twenty-eight  in  one  inventory  in  1667  are  spoken  of  as  old.  Their 
values  vary  from  one  to  ten  shillings  each. 


136 


CHAIRS 

SECOND    PERIOD  — 1660-1702 

The  accession  of  Charles  II  is  marked,  both  in  Eneland  and  the 
colonies,  by  an  increase  in  luxuries  of  every  kind,  for  his  long  resi- 
dence in  France  had  accustomed  him  to  far  more  elegance  than 
England  at  that  time  afforded.  In  the  colonies  the  struofSfle  for 
existence  was  well  in  the  background,  and  the  inventories  show 
a  marked  increase  in  the  amount  of  furniture  of  all  kinds,  especially 
chairs. 

One  of  the  new  styles  was  similar  to  the  leather  chair  last 
mentioned  ;  but  instead  of  having  the  straight  bracing  and  uprights, 
the  lines  were  softened  throughout  by  the  substitution  of  a  spiral- 
turned  frame  which  gave  the  appearance  of  lightness  without  sacrifice 
of  strength.     (See  Figure  i  70.) 

Chairs  of  this  style  were  often  covered  with  "Turkey  work,"  or 
an  embroidery  in  imitation  of  it,  such  as  appears  on  the  settee  in  the 
figure  last  mentioned.  This  covering  became  very  popular  during 
the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  both  for  chair-coverings  and 
also  for  table  and  cupboard  cloths.  It  was  an  Oriental  fabric  woven 
by  hand  in  the  manner  of  the  Turkey  rugs,  and  was  imported  in 
great  quantities  in  sizes  suitable  for  chair  seats,  backs,  etc.  We  find 
Turkey-work  chairs  mentioned  in  English  inventories  as  early  as 
1589,  the  English  having  received  permission,  in  1579,  from  Amurath 
III  to  trade  with  Turkey.  In  New  York  we  find,  in  1677,  "  12  old 
Turkey  chairs  /^i  4s";  Boston,  1669,  "  12  turkey  work  chairs  £1  7s 
4d  "  ;  at  Yorktown,  Virginia,  1 674,  "6  Turkey  worked  chairs  £2  2s  "  ; 
at  Salem,  1684,  "9  turkey  work  chairs  without  backs  ^2  4s";  "4 
turkey  work  chairs  with  backs  £1  12s";  at  Philadelphia,  1687,  "  12 
small  turkie  carpett  chairs  2  of  them  broken  ^6  ";  and  "  6  turkie  work 
chairs  i  of  them  broken  /^i  i6s." 

Turkey  work  and  leather  were  very  evidently  not  the  only  cov- 
erings used  for  these  square-framed  chairs,  as  the  following  inventory 

'37 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

entries  will  show  :  Salem,  1698,  "6  old  serge  chairs"  ;  New  York,  1680, 
"6  old  red  cloth  chairs  "  ;  1698,  "6  chairs  with  red  plush  and  6  with 
green  plush  "  ;  Philadelphia,  1687,  "  6  camlett  silk  fringe  low  chairs  "  ; 
1668,  at  Yorktown,  "6  wrought  chairs";  and,  as  upholstery  was  not 
in  use  for  the  turned  or  wainscot  chairs,  these  entries  must  refer  to 
the  square-framed  chairs  just  described. 

Very  few  of  these  Turkey-work  or  leather  chairs  have  survived, 
although  through  a  period  of  some  thirty  years  they  are  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  inventories  both  in  the  North  and  South,  and  it  is 
not  at  all  uncommon  to  find  a  large  number,  from  one  to  three  dozen, 
in  a  single  inventory.  The  probable  reason  is  that  when  the  leather 
or  Turkey  work  was  worn  out  the  frames  were  of  little  use  and  were 
broken  up  or  thrown  away. 

The  most  notable  change  in  this  period  was  the  introduction  of 
cane  furniture  from  Holland.  This  change  in  the  character  of  the 
chairs  is  so  radical  that  it  seems  contrary  to  the  general  rule  of  devel- 
opment, for  the  graceful,  beautiful  examples  of  the  carved  frame  and 
fine  cane  chairs  which  now  became  fashionable  are  of  another  nature 
entirely  from  the  turned  or  wainscot  pieces  generally  in  use. 

The  carved  frame  cane  chairs  are  called  by  many  Jacobean,  and 
this  apparently  upon  no  definite  authority  that  we  have  been  able 
to  find. 

The  chapter  on  Jacobean  furniture  in  Mr.  Frederick  Litchfield's 
"  History  of  Furniture  "  has  for  its  initial  illustration  an  elaborate 
cane  chair,  and  this  fact  has  been  quoted  as  authority  for  the  cane 
chairs  being  Jacobean.  We  have  consulted  Mr.  Litchfield  on  this 
subject,  and  his  explanation  of  the  presence  of  the  illustration  referred 
to  under  Jacobean  furniture  is  that  in  that  chapter  the  furniture  of 
the  time  of  Charles  II  is  included,  though  not,  properly  speaking, 
Jacobean.  The  chair,  he  states,  in  his  opinion,  is  not  earlier  than  the 
time  of  Charles  II.  After  a  somewhat  prolonged  study  of  the  mat- 
ter, we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  no  such  chairs  were  at  all 


CHAIRS 

common  in  England  during  the  Jacobean  period,  which,  properly 
speaking,  could  not  be  said  to  extend  beyond  the  reigns  of  James  I 
and  Charles  I,  1603-49. 

The  chairs  which  were  at  all  common  at  that  time  were  either 
the  turned,  wainscot,  or  leather  chairs  before  described  ;  the  cane 
chair  did  not  put  in  its  appearance  in  England  before  the  reign  of 
Charles  II,  and  it  was  not  until  the  last  twenty  years  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  that  they  became  very  plentiful.  A  circumstance  which 
bears  this  statement  out  is  that  when  Anne,  who  afterward  became 
queen,  was  on  a  visit  to  England  in  1680,  a  suit  of  furniture  was 
made  for  her  special  use  at  Forde  Abbey  in  this  style,  and  it  is  fair  to 
assume  that  it  would  have  been  made  in  the  latest  fashion. 

There  appear  to  have  been  two  distinct  types  of  the  cane  chair 
which  found  their  way  to  Holland  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and,  after  receiving  some  characteristic  Dutch  additions,  were 
finally  exported  to  England,  and  became  there  what  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Jacobean  cane  chair. 

One  was  the  scroll-foot  chair,  which  appears  to  have  come  from 
Italy  or  France  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII  (1610),  which  we  shall  call 
Flemish,  and  the  other  was  the  leather  chair  which  came  from  Spain 
or  Portugal,  which  we  shall  call  Spanish. 

The  fact  that  furniture  should  be  exported  from  Holland  was  not 
strange,  for  Antwerp  seems  to  have  been  a  great  centre  for  that  trade 
from  about  1560  down,  and  Anderson,  in  his  "  History  of  Commerce," 
says  that  in  that  city  were  Germans,  Danes,  Italians,  English,  and 
Portuguese,  and  the  commerce  included  exchanges  with  all  the  civil- 
ized countries  of  Europe.  Antwerp  was  exporting  household  furni- 
ture to  Genoa,  England,  and  Spain  as  early  as  1560,  and,  in  fact,  was 
one  of  the  most  important  places  in  the  commercial  world. 

So  far  as  this  country  is  concerned,  these  chairs  appear  in  the 
inventories  not  earlier  than  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury.    We  find  at  Yorktown,  1687,  "2  old  cained  chairs  i6s,"  and  in 

139 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

New  York,  in  1691,  "  13  cane  chairs  broken  and  out  of  order,"  which 
would  indicate  at  least  that  at  that  date  the  style  was  not  new.  At 
Philadelphia,  1686,  "8  cane  chairs  ";  1687,  "  8  cane  chairs"  ;  Boston, 
1 71 2,  "  I  doz.  cane  chairs  with  black  frames  in  the  dining  room"; 
Boston,  1 71 2,  "  6  cane  chairs  with  carved  Oak  frames";  Boston,  1732, 
"  I  doz.  cane  chairs";  Salem,  1734,  "6  cane  chairs." 

The  style  remained  in  fashion  until  after  1719,  for  in  that  year  in 
the  Boston  "News  Letter  "is  mention  of  "  fine  cane  chairs  just  im- 
ported from  London." 

We  will  take  up  now  these  two  styles  of  cane  chairs  separately, 
showing  their  various  developments. 

The  first  or  Flemish  style  is  fairly  well  represented  in  Figure  94. 
The  feet  are  characteristic  of  the  style,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that 
the  scroll  foot  turns  outward,  as  it  should  in  the  pure  Flemish  style. 
The  top  of  the  back  is  slightly  carved,  and  the  back  is  of  unusually 
graceful  shape.  The  seat,  of  course,  originally  was  of  cane,  as  is 
the  back ;  the  carved  front  brace  is  common  to  both  the  Flemish 
and  Spanish  styles,  and  usually  follows  the  outline  of  the  top  of 
the  back.  This  chair  belongs  to  Mr.  Robert  T.  Smith,  of  Hartford, 
Connecticut. 

Figure  95  is  another  example  of  the  Flemish  style.  The  seat, 
which  now  shows  the  remains  of  rush,  was  originally  cane.  The 
scroll  feet  on  this  chair  are  not  the  pure  pattern  shown  in  the  last 
figure,  but  turn  backward,  and  the  legs  throughout  show  the  influence 
of  the  Spanish  style  in  being  turned  and  not  carved.  The  frame  of 
the  top  is  slightly  more  carved  than  that  in  the  preceding  figure. 
This  is  one  of  the  chairs  of  Richard  Lord,  whose  will  was  probated  at 
Hartford  in  171 2,  and  the  chair  is  now  at  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society's  rooms. 

Figure  96  shows  still  another  variation.  The  back  is  unusually 
well  carved,  the  top  in  the  design  of  an  eagle.  The  uprights  sup- 
porting the  back  end  in  carved  heads.     This  pattern  of  chair,  with  its 

140 


Figure  94. 

Flemish  Chair,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 


141 


CHAIRS 

rather  square  efifect  in  the  back  and  in  the  front  brace,  we  beh'eve  to 
be  an  English  adaptation  of  the  Flemish  style.  The  feet  are  of  the 
same  order  as  those  shown  in  the  last  illustration. 


Figure  95. 
Flemish  Chair,  about  1690. 


Figure  96. 

Chair  showing  English  Adapta- 
tion of  Flemish,  1680-90. 


Figure  97  illustrates  another  chair  of  this  general  style;  although 
the  feet  have  been  cut  off,  the  turning  of  the  legs  indicates  that  the 
foot  was  a  plain  knob  such  as  appeared  in  the  wainscot  chairs.  The 
arms  will  also  be  observed  to  be  very  much  the  same  as  those  on  the 
wainscot  chair  shown  in  Figure  89.  The  back,  however,  proclaims 
it  as  belonging  in  general  to  the  Flemish  style,  and  the  carving  is 

143 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

better  than  is  usually  found  on  these  pieces.  It  is  probably  an 
English  adaptation,  as  is  shown  in  the  last  figure.  The  back  and 
seat  were  originally  cane.  This  chair  is  at  the  Van  Cortlandt  Manor, 
Croton,  New  York. 


Figure  97. 
Chair  showing  Enghsh  Adaptation  of  Flemish.  1680-1700. 

(Feet  missing.) 

The  backs  of  chairs  which  we  have  designated  as  being  Flemish 
in  general  design  distinctly  suggest  the  splat,  separate  from  the 
upright  posts,  this  distinction  being  developed  later  as  a  distinct  splat 
in  the  Dutch  cabriole-legged  chairs.  The  feet  are  finished  with  the 
scroll,  turning  either  forward  or  backward,  the  latter  being  more  com- 

144 


CHAIRS 

monly  the  case  in  this  country.     The  wood  of  both  the  Flemish  and 

the  Spanish  chair  was  either  walnut,  maple,  beech,  or  occasionally  oak. 

Before  describing  the  Spanish  style  we  will  describe  the  style 

of  chair  shown  in  Figure  98,  belonging  to  Miss  Augusta  Manning, 


Figure  i 


Italian  Chair,  1680-1700. 


which,  so  far  as  the  upper  part  is  concerned,  is  after  the  Flemish  style; 
but  the  legs  are  of  a  very  different  type,  being  distinctly  Italian,  and 
much  like  those  found  on  the  dressing-tables  belonging  to  the  six- 
legged  chests  of  drawers.     ''See  Figure  25.)     Chairs  in  this  Italian 

14s 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

style  were  usually  upholstered,  and  this  chair  probably  never  had 
cane.  The  chair  is  made  of  oak,  and  dates  in  the  last  quarter  of  the 
seventeenth  century. 

The  second  style  of  cane  chair  was  developed  directly  from 
the  "Spanish  chair,"  of  which  Figure  99  is  a  splendid  specimen. 
It  will  be  seen  that  it  differs  from  the  Flemish  style  in  that  the  back, 
which  is  covered  with  the  world-famous  Spanish  carved  leather,  is 
solid,  there  being  no  suggestion  of  a  splat ;  the  legs  are  turned,  and 
the  foot  is  not  a  scroll,  but  a  distinct  style  which  has  very  generally 
received  the  name  of  Spanish  foot.  The  carved  front  brace  is  the 
same,  and  the  general  effect  is  so  similar  to  the  preceding  that  it  is 
natural  they  should  have  affected  each  other.  The  legs  and  feet  in 
the  Spanish  style  are  much  more  often  found  in  this  country  than  the 
Flemish,  but  the  Spanish  back  is  rare.  This  chair  is  at  Memorial 
Hall,  Philadelphia. 

There  is  mention  at  New  York,  in  1693,  of  "  6  Spanish  leather 
chairs  ^i,  6s,"  and  in  1703,  "2  large  elboe  leather  chairs  £"/" ;  the 
high  value  placed  on  the  last  mentioned  leads  us  to  think  they  were 
of  the  fine  Spanish  leather. 

Figure  100  is  an  exceedingly  fine  example  of  the  English  adapta- 
tion of  the  Spanish  chair.  Instead  of  the  leather,  the  back  is  cane  of 
an  unusually  fine  quality,  and  the  framework  of  the  back,  although 
not  carved,  is  relieved  of  bareness  by  its  beautiful  curves.  The  wood 
is  English  walnut.  The  front  legs  and  supports  for  the  arms  have 
lost  some  small  parts  which  complete  their  graceful  shape,  and  the 
feet,  though  greatly  worn,  are  recognizable  as  Spanish.  The  carved 
front  brace  follows  in  general  outline  the  curves  of  the  back.  It  will 
again  be  noted  that  this  differs  from  the  Flemish  style  in  that  the 
back  has  no  separate  splat  or  carving  at  the  top,  and  the  feet  are 
Spanish  instead  of  scroll.  This  chair  was  once  owned  by  the  Wyllys 
family  of  Charter  Oak  fame,  and  is  now  in  the  collection  of  the  Con- 
necticut Historical  Society. 

146 


Figure  99. 

Spanish  Chair,  latter  lialf  seventeenth  century. 


'47 


CHAIRS 

Figure  loi  illustrates  a  chair  found  at  Coxsackie,  New  York, 
now  in  the  writer's  possession,  combining  both  the  Flemish  and 
Spanish  styles,  the  back  being  in  Flemish  and  the  legs  ending  in  an 
almost  perfect  Spanish  foot. 


Figure  :oo. 
Chair  in  Spanish  Style,  1680-1700. 


Figure  loi. 

Chair  showing  Flemish  and  Spanish 
Styles,  1680-1700. 


TRANSITION   PERIOD 

We  now  come  to  what  will  be  called  the  Transition  Period, 
where  we  shall  find  Flemish,  Spanish,  and  Dutch  styles  combined  in 
one  way  or  another,  and  showing  very  clearly  various  steps  in  the 

change  from  the  cane  chairs  to  the  cabriole-legged  Dutch  chairs. 

149 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figures  102,  103,  104,  and  105  bring  us  to  what  we  may  sup- 
pose were  the  last  surviving  forms  of  the  Spanish  and  Flemish  styles. 
The  legs  and  bracing  are  still  the  same  in  outline,  but  greatly 
simplified. 

In  Figure  102  no  carving  remains  except  a  few  lines  above  the 
back,  and  the  seat  was  originally  cane.     The  outlines  of  the  back  and 


Figure  102. 

Late  Spanish,  1700-10. 


Figure  103. 
L^te  Spanish,  1700-10. 


feet  suggest  the  Spanish  style,  while  the  separate  splat  suggests  the 

Flemish.     It  is  in  the  collection  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 

Figure    103,  which  belongs  to   Mr.  William   Meggat,  shows  no 

carving  whatever ;  and,  instead  of  having  had  cane  back  and  seat,  it 

150 


CHAIRS 


was  covered  with  leather,  and  the  feet  are  splendid  examples  of  an 
American  adaptation  of  the  Spanish  feet.  It  is  practically  the  same 
chair  as  that  shown  in  the  preceding  figure,  except  for  the  leather 


covermg. 


Figure  104,  in  the  possession  of  Miss  Augusta  Manning,  shows 
an  outline  back  in  the  Spanish  style  clearly  suggesting  the  Wyllys 


Figure  104 


Late  Spanish,  showing  Dutch 
Influence,  1700-15. 


Figure  105. 

Queen  Anne  Chair,  showing 
Spanish  Feet,  1710-20. 


chair  shown  in  Figure  loo  ;  but  it  has  the  Dutch  wooden  splat  instead 
of  the  cane,  and  the  front  brace  is  again  of  the  large  turned  variety, 
and  the  feet,  again,  are  Spanish. 

Figure  105  is  practically  the  same  chair  as  that  shown  in  Figure 
103,  with  the  Spanish  feet,  but  has  the  Dutch  back  and  splat,  which 
now  for  a  half-century  and  more  is  the  pattern  elaborated  and  adapted 
through  the  almost  countless  variations  of  the  Chippendale  period. 

I5« 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

These  last  two  illustrations  show  the  change  from  the  style  of  the 
Second  Period  to  that  of  the  Third. 

We  have  seen  also  in  England  even  a  more  marked  harmonizing 
of  the  two  styles  in  a  chair  with  the  back  of  the  carved  or  embossed 
leather  and  brass  nails  of  the  Spanish  pieces,  having  the  Dutch  cab- 
riole legs  with  shell  ornamentation  and  underbracing,  showing  clearly 
that  so  far  as  chairs  are  concerned  the  "missing  link"  is  not  missing. 


THIRD    PERIOD— 1702-50 

Although  in  point  of  years  this  period  is  as  long  as  those  pre- 
ceding it,  the  number  of  styles  developed  is  surprisingly  small.  Peo- 
ple were  not  so  fastidious,  and  there  were  not  the  rapid  changes  in 
fashion  which  we  find  to-day.  Styles  were  few,  and  well  adapted  to 
their  needs,  so  there  was  little  call  for  change,  and  they  contented 
themselves  with  simple  variations  of  the  form  then  in  use.  After  a 
careful  examination  of  the  chairs  of  this  period  we  conclude  that  there 
were  but  two  new  styles  to  be  found. 

Sometimes,  no  doubt,  it  will  be  difficult  at  first  glance  to  detect 
the  truth  of  this  statement,  as  often  a  single  piece  may  show  the  influ- 
ence of  more  than  one  style,  or  may  be  a  variation  of  an  earlier  one. 
We  are  convinced  that  no  distinctive  style  is  indigenous  to  this  coun- 
try, although  one  will  find  variations  here  of  the  prevailing  English 
and  Dutch  ones  which  may  in  a  sense  be  called  original. 

The  two  new  styles  of  chairs  were  the  Dutch  cabriole  leg  and  the 
Windsor. 

Before  taking  up  these  new  styles  we  will  examine  the  variations 
of  former  ones  which  continued  into  this  period.  The  cane  chair  was 
still  in  general  use,  for  in  almost  every  inventory  we  find  it  men- 
tioned. There  is  mention  of  cane  chairs  in  the  inventories  of  Salem, 
Boston,  and  Philadelphia  as  late  as  1734.  They  were  probably  simi- 
lar to  Figure  95. 

152 


CHAIRS 

A  common  chair  of  this  period  was  the  so-called  slat-back,  an 
example  of  which,  belonging  to  Mr.  Luke  A.  Lockwood,  of  Riverside, 
Connecticut,  will  be  seen  in  Figure  io6.     As  we  have  already  shown. 


Figure  io6. 

Slat-back,  about  1730. 

some  of  these  chairs  with  large  turned  posts  date  well  back  into  the 
seventeenth  century;  but  such  specimens  are  extremely  rare,  and  far 
the  larger  portion  of  them  date  from  1700-50.  This  chair  is  the  sur- 
vivor of  the  turned  chair  of  the  First  Period,  the  difference  being 
that  the  latter  was  made  of  turned  pieces  only,  while  the  slat-back 
chair  has  substituted  the  slats  for  the  spindles.     These  chairs  were 

■53 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


commonly  designated  by  the  number  of  their  slats  thus,  "  three  back," 

"  four  back,"  and  "  five  back  " —  the  one  just  shown  being  a  four-back. 

Figure  107  is  a  five-back  chair  in  the  pattern  most  often  found 

in  New  England,   dating  early  in  the    eighteenth  century  ;    and  as 


Figure  107. 

Slat-back,  about  1740-50. 


Figure  loS. 
Slat-back,  about  1750. 


such  chairs  are  somewhat  hard  to  find,  they  are  more  highly  prized 
than  those  with  a  smaller  number  of  slats.  It  belongs  to  Mr. 
Meggat. 

Figure  io8  shows  a  five-back  belonging  to  Mr.  Frank  C.  Gilling- 
ham,  of  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  which  represents  the  Southern 
type  of  this  chair.  The  arms  are  high  and  cut  much  like  those  of  the 
wainscot  chairs,  and  the  chair  is  original  throughout. 

Figure  109  is  still  another  slat-back,  belonging  to  Mr.  C.  J.  Bur- 
nell,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  which  has  cut  instead  of  turned  up- 
rights, and  belongs  to  a  later  date.  The  hollow  cut  in  the  top  slat 
accommodates   the  head   and  relieves  the  very   upright  position   re- 

IS4 


CHAIRS 


quired  by  the  straightness  of  the  back. 
The  brass  terminals  are  new.  Such  chairs 
as  these  may  have  been  referred  to  in  a 
Yorktown  inventory  of  1745:  "6  Ribed 
back  chairs  ^,1." 


Figure  109. 
Slat-back,  about  1760-70. 

Another  form  of  chair  which 
had  survived  from  an  earHer  period 
was  the  banister-back  chair;  a 
very  early  example  of  one,  belong- 
ing to  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society,  is  shown  in  Figure  i  lo. 
It  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  it 
is  a  modification  of  the  cane  chairs, 
combining  both  the  Flemish  and 

Spanish  styles  in  the  back,  while  the  under  part  is  decidedly  Spanish. 
The  four  spindles,  curved  on  the  front  side  and  flat  on  the  back,  take 

IS5 


Figure  110. 

Banister-back,  1710-20. 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


the  place  of  the  cane  or  leather  back,  and  the  carved  underbrace  of 
the  cane  chairs  is  supplanted  by  a  simple  turned  one. 

Figure  1 1  i,  belonging  to  Mr.  L.  A.  Lockwood,  shows  the  same 
general  outline  as  the  preceding,  but  there  is  no  carving  on  the  top 
rail  of  the  back,  and  the  posts  are  turned  in  a  simple  design. 


il 


y 

/^ 

V 

% 

^ 

% 

1 

i 

1 
1 

t 

, 

^ 

Ha 

g| 

Figure  i  ii. 

Banister-back,  1730-40. 


Figure  112. 
Banister-back,  1740-50. 


Figure  1 1 2  shows  a  splendid  example  of  an  armed  banister-back 
chair  of  a  little  later  date,  belonging  to  Mr.  Albert  H.  Pitkin,  of  Hart- 
ford. 

These  banister-back  chairs,  as  well  as  the  slat-backs  above 
shown,  are  usually  found  painted  a  dull  black  and  have  rush  seats. 

Another  chair  was  the  "  roundabout  "  or  "corner  chair."     This 

cannot  be  called  a  different  style,  for  it  is  found  in  almost  all  the  styles 

156 


CHAIRS 

with  which  it  is  contemporaneous,  from  the  turned  chair  down  through 
the  Chippendale  period,  and  differed  only  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
seat  and  legs,  which  were  so  placed  that  a  leg  came  in  the  middle  of 
the  front  and  back. 


Fixture  1 1 3. 

Roundabout  Chair,  showing  Spanish  Foot,  about  1720-30. 

Figure  113  is  an  early  example  of  this  style,  showing  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  Spanish  foot  in  front.  It  is  in  the  possession  of  Mrs. 
W.  W.  Andrews,  of  Wethersfield,   Connecticut. 

We  now  come  to  the  first  of  the  two  styles  which  are  distinctly 
new  with  this  period. 

The  most  characteristic  chair,  and  the  one  which  marked  the 
beginning  of  a  change  of  style  almost  as  radical  as  had  been  the 
Flemish,  and  which  was  destined  eventually  to  supersede  it  and,  after 
playing  an  important  part  in  this  period,  to  serve  as  the  outline  for 
many  of  the  most  beautiful  chairs  of  the  Chippendale  period,  was  the 
Dutch  cabriole-  or  bandy-legged  chair.  So  far  as  we  can  find,  although 
the  leg  had  become  popular  in  the  high  and  low  chests  of  drawers  a 

157 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

little  earlier,  it  does  not  seem  to  have  affected,  to  any  great  extent, 
the  form  of  chairs  until  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
by  many  the  chair  is  called  Queen  Anne.      Its  distinguishing  features 


Figure  114. 
Dutch  Chairs  with  Underbrace,  1710-30. 

were  the  bandy  leg,  often  with  the  shell  ornament  at  the  knee,  the 
solid  splat,  and  the  broad  seat. 

An  example  of  the  earliest  form  is  found  in  Figure  114,  which 
probably  dates  between  1710  and  1730.  It  is  in  the  possession  of 
Mrs.  W.  \V.  Andrews,  of  Wethersfield,  Connecticut.  It  will  be  noted 
that  it  still  retains  the  underbracing  so  common  in  the  preceding  period. 

Figure  115  is  a  radical  departure  from  the  laws  of  construction 
hitherto  observed  in  that  the  underbracing  is  entirely  missing, 
although  otherwise  the  chair  is  identical  with  Figure  114.  These 
belonged  to  Dr.  Ezekiel  Porter,  dating  about   1 730,  and  are  now  in 

the  possession  of  his  descendant,  Miss  Bidwell. 

158 


CHAIRS 

Figure  1 16  is  a  very  fine  specimen  of  a  roundabout  chair  in  this 
style,  belonging  to  Mr.  Albert  H.  Pitkin.  The  extended  top  is  not  at 
all  common,  by  far  the  larger  number  of  roundabout  chairs  being 
without  it. 


Figure  115. 
Dutch  Chairs,  about  1730. 

Figure  1 1 7  shows  a  rather  unusual  variation  of  these  chairs, 
which,  it  will  be  observed,  are  pardy  turned ;  but  the  outlines  are 
regular,  except  that  the  legs  are  straight  instead  of  bandied,  although 
they  end  in  the  proper  Dutch  foot.  Such  chairs  are  more  commonly 
found  in  the  Dutch  settlements  than  elsewhere.  These  chairs  belong 
to  the  writer,  having  been  found  at  Flatbush,  Long  Island. 

Figure  118  is  the  plain  and  very  common  chair  of  the  period,  of 
which  probably  no  family  was  without  an  example.  These  chairs 
could  date  almost  anywhere  in  this  period. 

As  the  century  advanced  the  Queen  Anne  chair  became  more 
ornate ;  the  splat  now  was  often  pieced  or  slighdy  carved,  the  shell 
appeared  on  the  knee,  centre  of  front  and  back,  and  the  foot  ended 

159 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

in   the  ball-and-claw,   clearly  preparing  the  way   for  the  still   more 
elaborate  designs  of  Chippendale. 

The  ball-and-claw  foot  began  to  appear  in  the  inventories  about 
1737;  at  that  date,  at  Boston,  "6  crow  foot  chairs"  are  mentioned, 
and,  in  1750,  "  7  chairs  with  eagle  feet  and  shells  on  the  knee,"  and 


Figure  Ii6. 

Dutch  Roundabout  Chair,  Extension  Top,  about  1730-40. 

at  Yorktown,  Virginia,  in  1745,  "claw  foot "  furniture  of  various 
kinds  is  mentioned  ;  but  ten  years  can  safely  be  deducted  from  that 
date  to  determine  when  the  style  appeared.  There  is  a  set  of  side- 
chairs  and  a  double  chair  in  the  Pendleton  collection,  undoubtedly 
made  by  Grinling  Gibbons,  which  have  a  most  elaborate  ball-and- 
lion-claw  foot,  while  the  general  style  follows  the  lines  of  the  Queen 
Anne  chairs;  and  as  Gibbons  died  in  1720,  ball-and-claw  is  of  an 
earlier  date  than  that.      Dr.   Lyon  shows  that  the  ball-and-claw  was 

160 


CHAIRS 


Figure  1 17. 
Dutch  Chairs  with  Rush  Seats,  about  1 740. 


Figure  1 18. 

Simple  Dutch  Chairs,  common  throughout  eighteenth  century. 

an   adaptation   of  the   Cliinese   design   of  the   dragon   grasping  the 

pearl ;   l)ut  the  ball-and-claw  seems  to  have  been  made  in  two  styles, 

161 


COLONIAL     F  L'  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 


the  lion-claw  on  the  ball,  such  as  appears  on  the  sofa  shown  in 
Figure  i8o,  and  the  eagle  or  other  bird's  claw  on  a  ball  —  the  latter, 
of  course,  being  the  one  which  suggests  the  dragon  and  pearl.  The 
former  style,  with  the  lion-foot,  is  much  more  common  in  England 
than  here,  and  appears  on  English  pieces  of  this  period,  as  well  as  in 
many  of  the  finer  Chippendale  chairs. 


Figure  luj.  Figure  120.  Figure  121. 

Dutch  Chairs,  dating  about  1740. 

Figure  119  is  made  of  \'irginia  walnut,  and  shows  a  splat 
slightl)-  elaborated,  while  the  feet  have  traces  of  carving  suggesting 
the  ball-and-claw  foot.  Figure  120  has  a  veneer  of  walnut,  and  is 
an  example  of  a  .slightly  pieced  splat,  while  Figure  121  is  quite 
elaborate,  made  of  mahogany,  with  carved  shell  and  ball-and-claw 
feet.  Figures  119  and  121  belong  to  Mr.  William  Meggat,  and 
Figure  120  belongs  to  Mr.  Walter  Hosmer. 

Figure  122  illustrates  an  elaborate  form  of  this  chair,  which, 
though  without  carving,  has  a  fineness  of  design  not  found  in  the 
earlier  pieces. 

We  begin  early  in  this  period  to  find  mention  of  easy-chairs,  and 

as  they  are  inventoried  much  higher  than  the  other  chairs  we  con- 

162 


CHAIRS 

elude  that  they  were  rather  scarce,  and  belonged  only  to  persons  of 
means.  They,  too,  cannot  be  called  a  new  style,  for  we  find  them  in 
Flemish,  Dutch,  Chippendale,  and  Hepplewhite  designs,  covering  a 
period  of  a  hundred  years.     They  appear  in  the  inventories  among 


Figure  122. 
Dutch  Chair,  about  1740. 

the  chamber  furniture:  in  New  York,  1708,  "an  easy  chair  lined 
with  red  £2  los";  in  Boston,  1712,  "an  easy  chair  £\"  \  and  in  1713 
another  for  ^4;   at  Philadelphia,  in  1720,  "an  easie  chair  £,']  los." 

The  earlier  form  of  this  chair  had  the  Flemish  feet  and  bracing, 
one  of  which  we  have  found  in  England  ;  but  the  earliest  we  have 
found  in  this  country  appears  in  Figure  123,  dating  about  1740. 
which  is  doubtless  like  many  of  this  period,  with  ball-and-claw  feet 
and  underbracing.  It  has  descended  to  Miss  Bidwell,  of  Wethersfield, 
Connecticut,  from  Dr.  Ezekiel  Porter. 

163 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

The  wood  of  which  the  earHer  chairs  of  this  period  were  made  are 
maple,  Virginia  and  black  walnut,  and  cherry  ;  but  it  was  during  this 
time  that  mahogany  came  into  general  use.  It  had,  apparently,  been 
occasionally  used  for  furniture  in  the  South  from  the  beginning  of  the 


Figure  123. 
Cabriole-legged  Cosey-chair,  1730-40. 

century,  but  does  not  seem  to  have  reached  the  North  until   some 

years  later.      P>om  1748  on  it  appears  in  the  Boston  inventories,  and 

through  those  of  1755  and  1756  it  appears  to  have  been  in  common 

use,  there  being  hardly  an  inventory  which  does  not  contain   some 

piece  made  of  that  wood. 

We   now   come   to  the   second   style   new   in    this   period.      The 

Windsor  chair,   which  tradition  says  received  its  name  Irom  having 

164 


CHAIRS 

been  found  by  one  of  the  Georges  in  a  peasant's  hut  near  that  place, 
at  any  rate  so  far  as  this  country  is  concerned  seems,  contrary  to 
current  belief,  to  have  come  from  the  South.  Philadelphia  has  the 
earliest  records  of  Windsor  chairs,  and  they  were  in  use  there  about 
1725,  and  as  the  records  farther  south  and  north  do  not  mention 
them  until  many  years  later,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  they  were  first 
used  there.  The  following  advertisement  at  New  York,  in  1763,  also 
seems  to  indicate  their  origin:    "  Philadelphia-made  Windsor  chairs." 

Prom  the  time  of  their  introduction  well  into  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury they  appear  to  have  been  the  most  common  and  popular  of  all 
styles  of  chairs,  and  we  find  them  advertised  for  sale  in  New  York  as 
late  as  1800,  and  frequently  mentioned  in  inventories  even  of  later 
date ;  in  fact,  they  still  hold  their  place,  having-  survived  as  the  piazza 
and  kitchen  chairs  of  to-day. 

They  were  comparatively  easy  and  inexpensive  to  make,  and 
were  more  useful  than  the  heavier  Queen  Anne  piece  with  which 
they  were  contemporaneous,  and  more  comfortable  than  the  other 
common  form  shown  in  P^igure  118.  They  were,  in  fact,  the  every- 
day chair  of  the  period. 

These  chairs  were  made  of  a  variety  of  woods,  sometimes  several 
kinds  in  one  piece,  but  they  were  commonly  made  of  hickory  and  ash. 

The  English  Windsor  chairs  differ  from  those  found  in  this  coun- 
try in  that  they  usually  have  a  solid  or  pieced  splat  in  the  centre  of 
the  back,  with  the  spindles  on  either  side. 

American  Windsor  chairs  are  found  in  several  forms,  one  having 
straight  spindles  across  the  back,  with  a  projection  to  act  as  a  head- 
rest, as  in  the  rocking-chair  shown  in  Figure  i  24,  but  often  this  addi- 
tional piece  was  missing.  The  additional  piece  at  the  top  gives  this 
chair  the  name  of  comb-back. 

Another  more  beautiful  form  is  shown  in  Pigure  123,  where  the 

curve  of  the  back  is  bent  into  the  arms,  and  the  back  is  supported  by 

two  spindle  braces  fastened  into  an  extension  of  the  seat. 

165 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


Figure  124. 

Windsor  Rocking-chair,  latter  half  eighteenth  century. 


Figure  125. 

Windsor  Arm-  and  Side-chairs,  latter  half  eighteenth  century. 

166 


CHAIRS 

A  third  form,  called  the  fan-back,  is  shown  in  Figure  126.  It 
doubtless  derives  its  name  from  the  graceful  curve  of  the  back.  The 
chairs  shown  in  the  last  two  figures  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Hon. 
John  R.  Buck,  of  Hartford. 

The  rarest  form  of  this  chair  is  shown  in  Figure  127. 


Figure  126. 
Fan-back  Windsor  Chairs,  latter  half  eighteenth  century. 

This  writing-chair  carries  out  the  general  lines  of  Figure  125, 
and  in  addition  has  the  larsfe  desk-arm.  There  is  a  drawer  under 
the  arm,  and  a  slide  in  front  for  the  candle,  and  another  drawer  under 
the  seat.  It  is  made  of  a  variety  of  woods,  the  bent  pieces  being  oi 
hickory,  the  spindles  of  ash,  the  front  of  the  drawers  of  mahogany, 
and  the  desk-arm  and  seat  of  birch.  This  piece  is  in  the  author's 
possession,  and  at  one  time  belonged  to  the  first  Congregational 
minister  of  Chesterfield,  Massachusetts,  and  was  not  new  in  1790. 
Such  a  piece  is  doubtless  referred  to  in  a  Boston  inventory  ot  1760, 
"a  writing  chair  2s  Sd."  One  can  hardly  realize  from  the  illustration 
how  comfortable  and  convenient  it  is  both  for  reading   and  writing, 

167 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


Figure  127. 
Windsor  Writing-chair,  1760-80. 


16S 


CHAIRS 

and  much  of  the  present  vohime  was  written  on   its  arm,  while  the 
drawers  provided  a  convenient  place  for  the  note-books. 

The  arms  of  Windsor  chairs  were  sometimes  carved  at  the  ends, 
either  to  represent  a  closed  or  an  open  hand.  Pieces  of  this  descrip- 
tion are  not  very  common,  and  are  highly  prized. 


Figure  128 
Windsor  Chair  showing  Carved  Arms,  last  quarter  eighteenth  century. 

Figure  128  is  a  good  example  of  the  latter  sort,  and  all  four 
fingers  and  thumb  can  be  plainly  seen.  It  belongs  to  Mr.  Albert  H. 
Pitkin,  of  Hartford. 

We  do  not  find  a  single  reference  to  rocking-chairs  in  any  of  the 
inventories.  Yet  it  is  generally  supposed  that  they  have  existed  from 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  if  not  longer,  and,  in  fact,  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  why  the  chair  is  not  a  great  deal  older  than 
that  date,  for  the  idea  of  rockers  on  cradles  was  well  known  to  the 
colonists  from  the  first.     We  are,  however,  of  the  opinion  that  they  are 

of  a  comparatively  modern  date,  and  we  have  never  seen  one  which 

169 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

could,  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  be  placed  earlier  than  Revolu- 
tionary times;  for,  in  our  experience,  without  exception,  the  pieces  of  the 
earlier  designs  having  rockers  have,  when  it  is  possible  to  trace  them 
back,  had  rockers  added  within  the  last  hundred  years,  and  this  expe- 
rience seems  to  be  that  of  all  the  collectors  approached  on  the  subject. 

The  rocking-chair  is  probably  indigenous  to  this  country,  and  even 
to  this  day  it  is  recognized  as  an  American  idiosyncrasy. 

It  is  often  difficult  to  determine  whether  a  piece  was  originally  a 
rocker  or  not,  and  the  writer  knows  of  no  infallible  rule  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  public;  we  believe  that  they  can  usually  be  distinguished 
from  the  firm  chairs  by  the  fact  that  they  have  a  single  underbrace 
high  up  the  leg  instead  of  a  double  brace,  but  thi^  rule  could  only 
apply,  of  course,  to  the  double-braced  style  of  chair. 

We  have  never  found  a  genuine  rocking-chair  in  a  style  earlier 
than  the  slat-back  and  the  common  variations  of  the  Dutch,  although 
there  is  a  Flemish  chair  with  rockers  at  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society's  rooms,  and  another  at  the  Museum  at  Concord ;  but  these 
clearly  have  been  cut  down  and  had  rockers  added  at  a  later  date. 

Rocking-chairs  had  no  distinctive  style  of  their  own,  but  were 
merely  adaptations  from  the  prevailing  ones,  the  commonest  by  far 
being  in  the  Windsor  style. 


FOURTH    PERIOD— 1750-1840 

The  period  now  under  consideration  is  marked  by  an  extrava- 
gance of  taste  and  fluctuation  of  fashions  never  before  attained,  which 
were  primarily  due  to  the  great  and  sudden  increase  of  wealth  in  the 
colonies  and  in  England.  The  furniture  was  drawn  exclusiveh-  from 
English  models  down  to  the  introduction  of  the  Empire  style,  and  in 
their  eagerness  for  something  new,  the  people,  following  the  English 
fashions,  rushed  from  the  plain,  stately  pieces  of  the  Queen  Anne  period 
to  the  rococo  French  designs  of  Chippendale ;  then,  tiring  of  that, 


CHAIRS 

back  to  the  classic  for  a  brief  time  under  Adam  ;  then,  in  a  revolt 
against  the  heavy  pieces  of  Chippendale,  to  the  over-light  and  perish- 
able pieces  of  Hepplewhite  and  Shearer;  then  on  to  the  gaudily 
painted  pieces  of  Sheraton,  who,  under  the  stress  of  public  taste,  at  last 
succumbed  to  the  Empire  style  and  sank  into  a  mere  copyist  of  the 
French  school.  Such  is,  in  brief,  the  history  of  the  chairs  of  this 
period. 

This  fickleness  was,  of  course,  felt  more  in  the  cities  than  in  the 
country,  where  we  often  find  two  and  even  three  of  these  styles  exist- 
ing side  by  side,  equally  popular. 

Chippendale's  designs  remained  popular  longer  than  any  of  the 
others,  and  from  the  following  coincidence  we  are  able  to  determine 
fairly  closely  when  the  change  took  place. 

In  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  were  two  men  in  good  circum- 
stances, one  married  in  1791,  the  other  in  1799,  and  each  furnished 
his  house  in  the  prevailing  fashion.  The  furniture  bought  in  1791  is 
Chippendale  in  character  entirely,  while  that  bought  in  1799  had  not 
a  single  example  of  that  style,  but  was  entirely  Sheraton.  This  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  Chippendale  style  gave  way  to  the  Sheraton 
somewhere  between  those  two  dates,  although,  of  course,  we  find  at  a 
much  earlier  date  Sheraton  pieces,  as  in  the  Nichols  house  at  Salem, 
built  and  furnished  in  i  783  almost  entirely  in  Sheraton  style,  with  but 
litde  of  the  Chippendale ;  and  the  furniture  used  by  General  W'ash- 
ington  when  President  in  17S9,  and  now  preserved  in  the  City  Hall, 
New  York,  is  pure  Sheraton  in  style. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  service,  in  placing  the  date  of  a  chair, 
to  be  able  to  tell  with  a  degree  of  accuracy  under  the  style  of 
which  cabinet-maker  it  falls,  and  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
safest  guide  to  follow  is  the  general  outline  of  the  backs.  There 
are,  of  course,  a  few  instances  where  a  piece  will  combine  two  styles, 
or  perhaps  be  such  that  no  single  rule  will  enable  one  to  deter- 
mine ;    hut  these  are  the  rare  exception,   and  the  following  will   be 


COLONIAL     FURNITl'RE 

found  to  be  the  almost  universally  true  characteristics  of  the  various 
styles.     Figure   1 29  shows  the  backs  of  the  four  different  styles. 

A  shows  the  Dutch  back.      It  will  be  noted  that  the  top  curves 
down  to  the  upright  pieces  forming  the  back,  so  that  they  appear  to 


Figure  129. 

be  one  piece.     This  will  universally  be  found  true  in  the  Dutch  chairs, 
either  in  this  form  or  in  its  modification  shown  in  Figure  117. 

B  is  Chippendale  in  its  simplest  form.  It  will  be  seen  that  it  dif- 
fers from  the  Dutch  in  that  the  top  rail  is  bow  shape,  and  the  ends  of 
the  top  curve  up  instead  of  down,  and  the  centre  is  a  rising  curve.  This 
form  has  infinite  variations,  and  occasionally  the  ends  drop,  but  never  to 
form  an  unbroken  line  with  the  sides,  and  there  is  usually  a  centre  rise. 

C  is  Hepplewhite.  These  chairs  are  very  easily  distinguished,  as 
the  back  is  always  either  heart,  shield,  or  oval  in  shape,  and  there  are 
but  few  variations. 

D  is  Sheraton,  the  general  characteristic  of  the  backs  being 
that  they  are  rectangular  in  shape,  the  upper  edge  often  being  raised 
in  the  centre,  and  sometimes  curved  instead  of  straight.  They  never 
have  a  simple  splat  to  form  the  back,  which  never  joins  the  seat,  but 
is  supported  by  a  cross-rail. 

By  bearing  these  figures  in  mind,  and  allowing  for  the  variations, 

one   can    readily  tell  at  a   glance  under  which  of  these  influences  a 

given  piece  falls. 

172 


CHAIRS 

Chippendale,  for  the  most  part,  copied  the  French,  not  so 
closely,  however,  but  that  he  could  adapt  the  Dutch  bandy  leg,  splat, 
broad  seat,  and  shell  ornamentation  of  the  Queen  Anne  period;  and 
this  he  did  so  successfully  that  he  made  a  style  which  was  English 
and  distinctly  his  own. 

As  to  when  Chippendale's  influence  first  began  to  be  felt,  it  is,  of 
course,  difficult  to  determine,  for  his  name  is  not  mentioned,  so  far  as 
we  have  been  able  to  find,  until  the  time  his  published  designs  ap- 
peared in  1753;  but  judging  from  the  spirit  in  which  the  "Director" 
was  written,  and  the  extremely  well-made  copper-plates  with  which  it 
was  illustrated,  and  the  price  at  which  it  sold,  it  must  be  that  he  had 
before  that  time  established  his  reputation.  The  people  in  the  South, 
at  that  time  wealth)-,  and  importing  as  they  did  from  the  London 
market,  probably  had  examples  of  his  handicraft  about  the  same  time 
that  they  did  in  London,  which  may  have  been  as  early  as  1735.  On 
the  whole,  however,  we  think  the  conservative  date  of  1750  is  the 
safest,  at  which  time  his  influence  must  have  become  somewhat  gen- 
eral. In  1755,  at  Yorktown,  record  was  made  of  "2  carved  mahog- 
any chairs,  40s";  and  in  1760,  at  Boston,  we  find  mention  in  the 
inventories  of  "  6  mahogany  chairs  ^"4  los,"  and  in  i  774  of  "  8  carved 
mahogany  chairs  ^16  6s,"  which  were  undoubtedly  in  Chippendale 
designs. 

Chippendale's  published  designs  for  chairs  show  no  ball-and-claw 
feet,  but  instead  the  French  foot,  which  he  made  every  effort  to  popu- 
larize. There  are,  however,  chairs  made  with  ball-and-claw  feet  which 
reliable  tradition  ascribes  to  him,  and  the  explanation  doubtless  is  that 
he  made  what  was  desired  to  order. 

English  Chippendale  chairs,  as  a  rule,  are  larger  than  the  Ameri- 
can-made chairs,  and  excel  them  in  every  way.  There  were  no  chairs 
made  here  which  approach,  either  in  design  or  workmanship,  the  ex- 
amples of  Chippendale  chairs  in  the  collections  of  Mr.  George  S. 
Palmer,  of  Norwich,  and  Mr.  C.  L.    Pendleton,  of  Providence.      The 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

great  fault  of  the  American  makers  was  disregard  of  a  fineness  of 
detail,  which  makes  a  vast  difference  in  the  finished  product.  The 
backs  are  often  handsomely  carved,  but  the  legs'  are  so  plain  and  the 
rails  so  wide  as  to  give  a  board  effect  to  the  lower  portion  of  the 
chair,  which  entirely  ruins  the  fine  effect  obtained  in  the  back. 


Figure  130. 
Cliinese  Chair,  about  1 800. 

Just  as,  a  half-century  before,  the  Dutch,  then  the  controllers  of 
the  Eastern  trade,  had  borrowed  the  ball-and-claw  foot  from  the 
Chinese,  so  now  Chippendale  borrowed  extensively  from  othec  Chi- 
nese designs  for  English  use.  The  cabinet-makers  of  his  day  seem 
to  have  doubted  the  practicality  of  many  of  Chippendale's  designs, 
especially  those  in  the  Gothic  and  Chinese  styles,  for  in  his  preface 
Chippendale,  referring  to  these  designs  as  "fit  for  eating  parlours," 
says:  "Upon  the  whole  I  have  given  no  design  but  what  may  be 
executed  with  advantage  by  the  hands  of  a  skilful  workman,  though 

174 


CHAIRS 

some  of  the  profession  have  been  diligent  enough  to  represent  them 
(especially  those  after  the  Gothick.  and  Chinese  manner)  as  so  many 
specious  drawings,  impossible  to  be  worked  off  by  any  mechanick 
whatsoever.  I  will  not  scruple  to  attribute  this  to  malice,  ignorance 
and  inability  ;  and  I  am  confident  I  can  convince  all  noblemen,  gen- 
tlemen,  or  others,   who  will  honour  me  with   their  commands,   that 


Chippendale  Chair. 


Figure  132. 
Chippendale  Chair. 


every  design  in  the  book  can  be  improved,  both  as  to  beaut)-  and 
enrichment  in  the  execution  of  it,  by  their  most  obedient  servant 
Thomas  Chippendale."  Quite  a  number  of  chairs  in  the  Gothic 
and  Chinese  style  found  their  way  to  this  country,  especially  about 
the  seaports  of  New  England,  and  the  late  Professor  Marsh  had  a 
very  good  example  of  a  chair  in  Chinese  design  in  his  collection. 
They    also    seem    to    have    been   made    in    this    country,    for    John 

17s 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Briner,  a  cabinet-maker  at    New  York   in    1762,  advertises  to  make 
"  Gothic  and  Chinese  chairs." 

Figure  130  is  an  example  of  a  Chinese  chair  brought  from  China 
by  a  sea-captain  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  is  a  good  example 


Figure  133. 
Cliippendale  Chair. 


Figure  134. 
Chippendale  Chair. 


of  the  style  of  chair  from  which  Chippendale  took  his  pattern.      It 
belongs  to  the  writer. 

The  earlier  chairs  made  here  from  his  designs  seem  to  have  had 
plain  splats  and  ball-and-claw  feet,  probably  a  transition  from 
the  Dutch  chairs  of  the  last  period,  and  it  was  not  until  considerably 
later  that  the  straight-leg  chair  came  into  general  use.  This  is  con- 
trary to  current  belief,  but  extensive  observation  of  pieces  whose 
dates  are  well  authenticated  shows  that  the  straight  leg  in  any  other 
design    than    Gothic   or    Chinese   came    some  years    later    than    the 

cabriole-legged  Chippendale  piece. 

176 


CHAIRS 

Figure  131  shows  a  web-foot  chair  with  splat  unpierced,  belong- 
ing to  Mr.  Meggat.  Figures  132  and  133,  with  ball-and-claw  feet 
and  shell  carving,  show,  in  the  former  a  simple  pierced  splat,  and  in 
the  latter  one  of  more  elaborate  design.  All  three  resemble  the 
Dutch  chairs,  except  that  the  top  bars  at  the  back  show  the  Chippen- 
dale characteristics.  Figure  134  shows  one  with  a  slightly  more 
elaborate  back,  but  with  plain  bandy  legs,  and  this  pattern  is  well 
known  both  in  Dutch  and  straight-legged  Chippendale  styles  as  well. 
Figure  132  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat,  Figure  133  to  the  Hon.  John  R. 
Buck,  and  Figure  134  to  Mr.  F.  O.  Pierce,  of  Brooklyn. 


Figure  135. 

Chippendale  Chair. 


Figure  136. 

Chippendale  Chair. 


F"igures  135  and  136  show  still  more  elaborate  splats.  Figure 
135  has  an  underbrace,  which  is  unusual  in  a  Chippendale  ball-and- 
claw-foot  chair.  It  belon^js  to  Mr.  Mecfs^at.  Chairs  resembling 
F"igure  136  are  sometimes  still  further  carved,  and  the  little  projec- 
tions at  the  top  on  either  side  of  the  splat  are  carved  to  represent 

"77 


C  O  L  O  KM  A  L     FURNITURE 


tassels,  thus  carrying  out  the  drapery  effect  which  is  suggested  in  this 
piece.     A  set  of  such  chairs  is  in  the  Bulkeley  collection. 

Figures  137  and  138  are 
examples  of  two  Chippendale 
roundabout  chairs  ;  the  splats 
of  both  follow  well-known 
Chippendale  designs,  Figure 
137  following  the  design 
shown  in  Figure  134,  and 
F"igure  138  suggests  that 
shown    in    Figure    152. 


Figure  137. 

Chippendale  Roundabout  Chair. 

Figure  139,  belonging  to  Mr. 
MeCTorat,  would  seem  to  be  an  ex- 
ception  to  the  rules  above  laid  down, 
but  the  splat  is  unmistakably  Chip- 
pendale, and  the  upper  rail  of  the  back 
is  a  whim  of  the  maker.  Figure  140 
is  an  unusual  design  in  the  writer's 
possession,  made  of  Virginia  ironwood, 
and  its  proportions  are  particularly 
ifood.  At  the  bend  of  the  knee  the 
wood  is   2y>    inches  thick. 

Figure   141    illustrates  an  arm-chair  in  almost  faultless  propor 

tions  as  to  height,  breadth,  and  the  curve  of  the  arms,  and  the  pat 

17S 


Figure  138. 

Chippendale  Roundabout  Chair, 
Extension  Top. 


Figure  139. 


Figure  140. 


Figure  14 

Chairs  in  Chippendale  Style. 
179 


CHAIRS 

tern    of    the    back    is   not   common,    the    only   criticism    being    that 
the  front  rail  is  perhaps  too  broad. 

Figure  142  shows  an  arm-chair  more  elaborate  than  any  of  those 
preceding  it  in  that  its  beauty  is  not  dependent  solely  upon  the  out- 


Figure  142. 
Chippendale  Chair. 

lines,  but  the  flat  surfaces  of  the  back,  arms,  and  legs  are  broken  by 
relief-carving.  This  carving  is  found  on  all  of  the  best- made  Chip- 
pendale chairs,  and  is  employed  on  nearly  all  of  the  chairs  given  in 
"The  Gentleman's  and  Cabinet-Maker's  Director,."  although  much 
the  larger  proportion  of  chairs  following  Chippendale's  outlines  in 
this  country  are  without  it.  This  chair  belongs  to  Miss  Augusta 
Manning,  of  Hartford.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  design  is  an  elabora- 
tion of  that  shown  in  Figure  134,  and  is  almost  identical  with  that 
shown  in  Figure  150.     This  chair  and  that  shown  in  Figure  150  well 

iSi 


COLONIAL     r'  I'  R  X  I  T  U  R  E 


illustrate  how  an  elaborate  design  was  simplified  from  lack  of  skill 

or  to  meet   the   requirements  of  economy. 

Figures  143  and  144  show 
two  chairs  of  a  hieher  order 
and  better  finish  than  is  usual 
in  American-made  chairs.  The 
legs  of  both,  though  straight, 
suggest  Chinese  patterns  so 
much  used  by  Chippendale,  and 
the  chairs  date  probably  as 
early     as     the     bandy  -  legged 


Figure  143. 
Chippendale  Chair. 

ones.  Figure  144  is  especially 
beautiful.  The  design  is  rather 
unusual,  and  the  flat  surfaces,  in- 
cluding the  top  of  the  arms,  are 
carved     in     well-executed     relief- 


Figure  144. 
Chippendale  Chair. 


Figure    145    is   probably    one 
of  the  most  elaborate  Chippendale 
chairs  which   has  been   found    in   this   country   dating  from    colonial 
times,  and  compares  very  favorably  with  some  of  the  designs  shown 

182 


CHIPPENDALE   CHAIR. 
{Figure  14^. ) 


CHAIRS 

in  his  "Gentleman's  and  Cabinet-Maker's  Director."  The  rococo 
effect  very  strongly  suggests  the  French  school,  and  the  legs  and 
the  carved  lower  edge  of  the  seat  are  characteristic  of  the  finer 
Chippendale  models.      It  is  in  the  Bulkeley  collection. 


Figure  146. 


Figure  147. 

Chippendale  Slat-back  Chairs. 


Figure  148. 


We  come  now  to  a  very  different  pattern  of  chair,  whicli  pos- 
sibly was  modeled  from  the  old  slat-back,  and,  like  it,  has  the  cross- 
slats  instead  ot  the  up-and-down  splat ;  but  from  the  fact  that  the  top 
rail  follows  the  Chippendale  lines  we  are  led  to  place  it  under  that 
general  head. 

Figures  146,  147,  and  148  show  its  development  from  the  plain- 
est to  one  of  its  most  beautiful  patterns.  We  have  found  no  example 
of  this  style  with  ball-and-claw  foot  or  other  than  the  straight  foot, 
and  are  therefore  inclined  to  place  them  after  1770. 

The  question  of  upholstery  for  Chippendale  chairs  is  often  of 
some  moment,  and  it  may  be  instructive  to  quote  what  he  thought 
on  the  suljject.  He  said  :  "  The  seats  look  best  when  stuffed  over  the 
rails,  and  ha\e  a  brass  border  neatly  chased  ;   but  are  most  commonly 

183 


COLONIAL     I^^  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 


done  with  brass  nails,  in  one  or  two  rows ;  and  sometimes  the  nails 
are  done  to  imitate  fret-work.  They  are  usually  covered  with  tlie 
same  stuff  as  the  window  curtains.  The  height  of  the  back  seldom 
exceeds  twenty-two  inches  above  the  seats."  And  referring  to  his 
"ribband  back"  chairs  he  remarks  that  several  sets  have  been  made 
which  have  sfiven  entire  satisfaction  and  that  "  if  the  seats  are  covered 
with  red  morocco,  they  will  have  a  fine  effect." 


Figure  149. 
Chippendale  Chair. 


Figure  150. 

Chippendale  Chair. 


It  is  worthy  of  note,  in  passing,  that  in  the  publications  of  all 
the  cabinet-makers  of  this  period  the  designs  almost  invariably  show 
chairs  without  any  underbracing;  but,  for  all  their  endeavor  to  set 
such  a  fashion,  the  designs  actually  made,  except  the  bandy  leg,  even 
including  the  delicate  Hepplewhite  pieces,  for  the  most  part  had  the 
underbracing,  probably  for  the  reason  that  the  additional  strength 
thus  secured  proved  to  be  a  necessity. 

Figure  149  is  an  example  of  the  plainest  of  the  straight-legged 

arm-chairs.      It  is  in  the  writer's  possession,  dating  about  1790,  and 

184 


CHAIRS 

was  bought  from  a  descendant  of  the  maker.  It  is  of  rather  unusual 
proportions,  being  46}^  inches  high,  and  24  inches  wide  at  the  front 
of  the  seat. 

Figure  150  was  new  in  1791,  being  part  of  a  wedding  outfit  at 
Wethersfield,   Connecticut,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  descen- 


Figure  151. 

Chippendale  Chair. 


Figure  152. 

Chippendale  Chair. 


/ 


dant,  Miss  Esther  Bidwell  of  that  place.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
chair  shown  in  Figure  1 50  is  practically  the  same  in  design  as 
that  shown  in  Figure  142. 

Figure  1 5 1  shows  a  chair  which  appears  to  have  been  of  a  style 
particularly  pleasing  to  the  cabinet-makers  about  Hartford,  for  many 
were  made  there  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  in  a  table  of  prices  published  by  the  joiners  at  Hartford,  in  1792, 
they  advertised  to  make  a  "chair  with  urn'd  banisters"  for  ^i  9s., 
which  undoubtedly  refers  to  this  design  of  chair. 

Figure  152  shows  a  chair  in  the  writer's  possession  in  a  design 
very  popular  throughout  the  Chippendale  period.  This  chair  was 
found  in  Vermont. 

185 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

From  these  few  designs  it  is  not  intended  to  portray  all  of  the 
designs  of  the  Chippendale  period,  for  their  name  is  legion,  and  a 
large  volume  could  be  compiled  upon  this  subject  alone,  without 
then  exhausting  it.  These  illustrations  have,  however,  been  selected 
from  a  large  number,  with  a  \iew  of  showing  the  most  important  of 
the  patterns  rather  than  the  most  unusual. 

We  now  come  to  the  second  of  the  sreat  cabinet-desisfners, 
Hepplewhite.  His  influence,  though  very  marked  in  other  articles  of 
furniture  in  this  country,  was  not  so  important  as  either  Chippendale  or 
Sheraton  as  retrards  chairs,  one  reason  doubtless  beingf  that  his  chairs 
lacked  the  enduring  qualities  which  those  of  the  others  possessed. 


Figure  153. 
Hepplewhite  Chair. 


Figure  154. 
Hepplewhite  Chair. 


It  would  be  almost  impossible  to  mistake  his  designs,  for  they 
all  possess  his  hall-marks,  either  heart-,  oval-,  or  shield-shaped  backs, 
and  his  desigrns  all  have  the  effect  of  licrhtness  and  trrace  which  made 
his  work  so  famous. 

186 


CHAIRS 


While  Chippendale  made  use  of  carving  only,  Hepplewhite  often 
employed  inlay  of  various  woods  and  occasionally  painting. 

His  designs  do  not  seem  to  have 
remained  in  fashion  for  any  great 
length  of  time,  and  although  some 
handsome  chairs  are  to  be  found  in  this 
country  which  undoubtedly  date  from 
colonial  times,  yet  for  the  most  part 
the  pieces   found  are   of  rather  recent 


Figure  155 


Hepplewhite  Chair. 

importation  from  England,  where 
his  influence  was  much  more 
widely   felt. 

Figures  153  and  154  are  two 
of  this  style  belonging  to  Mr. 
Meggat.  They  are  both  well 
proportioned  and  graceful,  and 
typical  examples  of  the  Hepple- 
white chairs  most  often   found  in 


Figure  156. 

Hepplewhite  Chair. 


this   country. 

Figure  155  is  a  very  good  example  of  an  American  Hepplewhite 
chair.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  this  chair,  though  apparently 
built  with  great  strength,  yet,  because  of  its  faulty  construction,  has 
been  broken  at  every  point  where  special  strain  has    come. 

187 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  X  I  T  I'  R  E 

Figure  156  shows  a  very  beautiful  Hepplewhite  chair  belonging 
to  Mrs.  Otto,  of  Germantown.  The  beauty  of  its  lines  and  the  well- 
executed  carving  lead  us  to  believe  it  was  made  in  England,  and  pos- 
silily  by  the  great  designer  himself 


'^Ik      ^     ^-         •^.l^'W-  '•'     v'        'ti 


te      •*4fW5^K»^  ^"     "•J*^    'A- 


y-      .r  -^a?*" 


-r 


Figure   157. 

Hepplewhite  Cosey-chair. 

Figure  157  is  a  splendid  example  of  a  Hepplewhite  cosey-chair, 
with  the  arms  extending  inside  of  the  tall  ears.  The  upholstery 
covers  the  frame  of  the  chair  so  completely  that  it  must  be  explained 
that  the  legs  and  bracing  are  like  those  given  in  Hepplewhite's  de- 
signs for  cosey-chairs.     This  chair  belongs  to  Miss  Brown,  of  Salem, 

a  descendant  of  the  original  owner. 

188 


Figure  158. 
Sheraton  Chairs. 


Figure  159. 

Sheraton  Chairs. 

189 


CHAIRS 

The  last  of  the  English  cabinet-makers,  Thomas  Sheraton,  had 
great  influence  on  the  designs  in  this  country,  not  only  in  chairs,  but 
also  in  all  other  kinds  of  furniture. 

The  characteristic  of  his  chairs,  as  we  have  seen,  was  that 
the  general  effect  of  the  backs  was  square  or  rectangular,  with  the 
top  bar  often  raised  in  the  centre  with  a  carved  piece,  or  broken 
into  several  sections,  and  in  the  plainer  pieces  the  top  was  perfectly 
straight. 

Figures  158  and  159  are  examples  of  Sheraton  at  his  best.  Fig- 
ure 158  has  the  characteristic  back,  while  Figure  159  shows  a  slight 


Figure  1 60. 

Sheraton  Chair. 


Figure  161. 

Sheraton  Chair. 


modification.  These  are  very  handsome  specimens,  the  carving 
being  of  an  exceptionally  high  order,  and  the  proportions  perfect.  A 
full  set  of  each  belongs  to  the  Nichols  family  in  .Salem,  Massachu- 
setts, where  they  have  been  since  they  were  imported  from   London 

to  furnish  the  new  house  in   1783.      This  early  date  seems  to   indicate. 

191 


COLONIAL     1^'  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

that  some  of  Sheraton's  best  work  had  been  done  before  the  publica- 
tion of  his  book  in  17QI.  which  was  undoubtedly  true  of  all  the  cabi- 
net-makers. 

P'igures   160  and  161   are   two  excellent   examples  of  Sheraton 
designs,  Figure  160  being  particularly  graceful,  with  the  fan-like  back. 


Figure  162. 

Sheraton  Chair. 


Figure  163. 
Painted  Sheraton  Chair. 


This  design  appears  to  be  one  of  the  commonest  of  the  better  Shera- 
ton chairs,  for  the  writer  has  found  many  of  them,  especially  in  the 
South.  The  applied  moulding  on  the  rail  about  the  seat  is  not 
original.     They  both  belong  to  Mr.  Meggat. 

Figure  162  is  a  plainer  adaptation  of  this  style,  and  Figure  163  is 
a  painted  chair,  such  as  became  very  popular  about  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  centur\-. 

Figure  1 64  is  another  example  of  chairs  in  Sheraton  style.  We 
believe  this  modification  is  distinctly  American.  They  were  origi- 
nally painted  with  a  black  background  over  which  flowers  in  brilliant 


192 


CHAIRS 

colors  and  gilt  were  painted.  The  two  here  illustrated  form  a  part 
of  a  dining-room  set  which  was  bought  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century. 

About  the  year  1800  the  style  commonly  called  Empire  began  to 
make  itself  felt  in   England,  and  Sheraton  adopted  it  in  his  designs, 


Figure  164. 

Painted  Sheraton  Chairs. 

making  chairs  with  lion's  and  bear's  claws  and  with  rolling  backs 
suggested  by  some  of  the  Egyptian  bronze  chairs.  In  this  country 
the  Empire  influence  was  early  felt,  undoubtedly  both  because  of  the 
very  friendly  feeling  then  existing  between  France  and  the  United 
States,  and  the  equally  hostile  feeling  toward  the  English  which 
culminated  in  the  War  of  1812. 

We  therefore  find  a  great  abundance  of  this  style  of  furniture  in 
this  country,  which  remained  in  fashion  down  to  the  time  of  machine- 
made  furniture. 

Figure  165,  with  its  carved  legs  and  feet,  was  made  by  a  cabi- 
net-maker named  Phyfe,  who  had  a  shop  at  35  Partition  Street,  now 
Fulton  Street,  New  York,  and  advertised  his  furniture  in  the  papers 

193 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


from  1802  to  1810.      It  clearly  shows  the  influence  of  the  Empire  style 
both  in  shape  and  in  the  brass  inlayin^'  on  the  rail  at  the  top  of  the 


Figure  165. 
Plivfe  Chair. 


Figure  166. 
Empire  Chair. 


Figure  167. 
Empire  Chairs. 

back  and  on  the  cross-slat.     The  feet  are  dainty  and  well  carved.      It 

is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Meggat. 

194 


CHAIRS 

Figure  i66  shows  the  early  Empire  style  as  it  became  modified 
in  this  country,  and  shows  the  Sheraton  influence  in  the  painted  lyre 
on  the  back,  which  was  one  of  the  hall-marks  of  Sheraton's  later 
designs.     The  slat  is  also  painted  in  fruit  designs. 

Figure  167  shows  two  styles  of  the  parlor  chairs  ot  our  grand- 
mothers' da)',  which  remained  in  st)le  up  to,  and  indeed  later  than, 
1840.  The  one  to  the  right  has  the  back  and  legs  made  of  the  same 
piece,  while  the  other  shows  a  construction  where  the  legs  are  made 
separate  from  the  back.  The  former  method  of  construction  makes  a 
stronger  and  more  desirable  chair.  They  clearly  have  the  Empire 
pieces  as  their  model,  and  it  is  amusing  to  see  how  the  "  antique 
dealers"  are  to-day  advertising  such  pieces  as  colonial,  when  most  of 
them  were  new  within  the  memory  of  some  of  the  readers. 


«95 


VI 
SETTLES,     COUCHES,     AND    SOFAS 

SETTLES 

THE  settle  seems  to  have  been  a  direct  evolution  from  the 
chest.  W.  H.  Pollen,  in  his  book  on  furniture,  says:  "As 
the  tops  of  coffers  served  for  seats,  they  began  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  to  be  furnished  with  panelled  backs  and  arms."  At 
any  rate,  we  find  beautiful  examples  of  carved  settles  in  England, 
datine  throucjh  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 

A  glance  at  Figure  i68  will  clearly  show  how  close  the  settle 
resembles  a  chest.  The  lower  part  of  this  piece  has  all  the  character- 
istics of  a  chest,  including  the  lifting  top,  and  the  three  panels  are 
carved  in  the  same  manner  and  design  as  are  found  in  chests.  The 
two  end  stiles  are  extended  to  support  the  arms,  and  the  seat  is  pan- 
elled. The  back  is  divided  into  three  panels,  as  is  the  lower  part,  and 
the  centre  panel  closely  resembles  that  found  below.  The  top  of  the 
back  is  finished  in  the  fashion  of  the  wainscot  chairs,  as  are  also  the 
arms.  Many  familiar  patterns  are  found  in  the  carving  on  this  settle, 
most  of  them  of  the  early  period,  as,  for  instance,  the  two  centre 
panels,  and  especially  the  two  inside  stiles  on  both  top  and  bottom. 
The  panelled  seat  suggests  that  the  settle  must  have  been  used  with 
a  cushion.     The  piece  seems  to  be  made  of  American  oak,  and  was 

found  at  Great  Barrington,  Massachusetts,  where  it  had  been  used  in 

196 


SETTLES,     COUCHES,    AND     SOFAS 

a  stable  to  hold  salt  for  cattle.     It  dates  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  is  now  in  the  Bulkeley  collection. 

Settles  are  mentioned  in  the  inventories  of  this  country  from  the 
very  first.     We  find  one  mentioned  in  Boston,  in  1643,  and  at  York- 


Figure  16S. 
Carved  Oak  Settle,  latter  half  seventeenth  century. 


town,  in  1647,  "  i  long  wainscott  settle";  at  Philadelphia,  in  1706,  "  i 
settle  17s";  and  again  in  1720,  "i  long  settle  14s";  and  at  Provi- 
dence, in  1 71 2,  "I  settle  9s." 

Such  handsome  settles  as  that  shown  in  the  last  figure  were 
extremely  rare  in  this  countr)-,  the  setde  commonly  in  use  being  simi- 
lar to  the  one  shown  in  Figure  169.  It  is  made  of  pine,  with  high 
back,  and  the  front  extends  nearly  to  the  floor,  thus  forming  an  eftec- 
tive  screen  against  the  cold  winter  winds  ;  for  it  was  the  custom  to 
draw  these  settles  up  close  to  the  large  open  fire,  usually  in  the 
kitchen,  thus  making  a  sort  of  little  inner  warm  room.     This  settle  is 

■97 


COLONMAL     FURNITURE 

owned  by  Mrs.  W.  W.  Andrews,  in  whose  family  it  has  always  been. 
These  settles  are  sometimes  furnished  with  a  small  shelf  fastened 
in  the  centre  of  the  back  to  hold  a  candle. 


Figure  169. 
Pine  Settle,  first  half  eighteenth  century. 


Settles  of  this  type  were  in  use  in  this  country  for  a  long  period, 
from  the  very  earliest  times  down  to  about  1760,  and  were,  many  of 
them,  more  carefully  made  than  Figure  169,  being  of  oak  and  often 
panelled. 

When  the  wainscot  chair  went  out  of  fashion,  and  the  square- 
back  chair  with  turned  feet  and  bracing  took  its  place,  the  settle, 
which  in  its  more  pretentious  form  could  perhaps  be  called  a  double 

chair  or  settee  of  the  wainscot  type,  was  superseded,  except  for  kitchen 

198 


Figure  170. 
Turned  Settee  with  Turkey-work  Upholstery,  about  i66o. 


199 


SETTLES,     COUCHES,    AND     SOFAS 

use,  by  the  upholstered  settee  in  the  fashion  of  the  Turkey-work  chairs 
so  commonl)-  in  use  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Figure  i  70  shows  a  settee  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Essex 
Institute,  Salem,  in  the  exact  style  of  the  chair  of  the  period  dating 
about  1660.      It  is  upholstered,  as  were  the  chairs,  in  Turkey- work. 


Figure  171. 

Dutch  Double  Chair,  1740-50. 

Again,  when  the  turned  chair  was  followed  by  the  finely  carved 
cane  chair,  this  fashion  was  followed  in  settees;  and  though  we  have 
never  seen  one  in  this  country,  they  may  have  been  here,  and  there  is 
in  England  a  suit  of  furniture  in  this  Flemish  style,  made  for  the 
Princess  Anne  in  1680,  which  has  a  settee  constructed  like  a  double 
chair,  the  legs  and  bracing  of  which  are  very  similar  to  the  couch 
shown  in  Figure  i  76. 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figure  171  is  an  example  of  a  Queen  Anne  double  chair  in  the 
possession  of  Dr.  J.  Sherman  Wight,  Jr.,  of  Brooklyn.  It  elates  about 
1740—50.  It  is  in  reality  two  chairs,  with  a  carved  brace  between 
the  two  backs  to  tfive  additional  strensth  and  finish.  It  is  made  of 
cherry,  and  is  an  excellent  example  of  the  double  chair  of  that  day. 

This  method  of  making  seats  for  more  than  one  was  used  also 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  such  pieces  are 
to  be  found  following  the  designs  of  Chippendale,  Hepplewhite,  and 
Sheraton. 

A  double  chair  in  Chippendale  design,  which  is  owned  by  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  is  shown 
in  Figure  172.  These  chairs  are  not  at  all  common  in  this  country, 
and  most  of  them  found  here  were  imported,  and  have  come  from  the 
South,  although  a  few  plain  straight-legged  ones  are  to  be  found  in 
New  England. 

This  double  chair  is  a  particularly  fine  specimen,  and  was,  with- 
out doubt,  made  in  England. 

The  feature  to  note  especially  is  the  lion's-claw-and-ball  foot, 
which  is  rarely,  if  ever,  found  on  American-made  pieces,  although  it 
had  been  a  favorite  design  in  Ensfland  for  the  finer  chairs  from  the 
time  of  Grinling  Gibbons,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  down 
through  that  of  Chippendale.  The  knees  are  finished  with  grotesque 
faces  of  men,  a  design  which  Chippendale  seldom  used,  although  it 
had  been  used  in  some  of  the  Queen  Anne  pieces.  The  arms  end  in 
a  dragon's  or  snake's  head.  This  double  chair  is  supposed  to  have 
been  owned  by  John  Hancock. 

Another  piece  which  once  belonged  to  John  Hancock,  and  which 
is  now  at  Pilgrim  Hall,  Plymouth,  is  shown  in  P'igure  173,  and  is  an 
example  of  an  upholstered  settee  of  the  same  general  character.  It 
is  made  of  walnut,  and  follows  very  closely  the  outlines  of  some  of 
the  upholstered  chairs  given  in  Chippendale's  "  Director,"  although 
the  underbracing  would  seem  earlier.      The  feet  are  decidedly  on  the 


f- 


^^W^' 


CHIPPENDALE    DOUBLE   CHAIR. 
{Figure  J  J  2.) 


'S 


o 

-a 

;3 


203 


SETTLES,    COUCHES,    AND     SOFAS 

order  of  the  Louis  XY  style,  which  Chippendale  often  copied.  It  is 
extremely  long,  being  practically  four  large  chairs  placed  side  by 
side,  but  is  saved  from  being  awkward  by  its  graceful  lines. 


Figure  174. 
Sheraton  Double  Chair,  1 780-1 800. 

There  is  a  Hepplewhite  settee  made  to  fit  a  circular  hall  at 
Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  His  designs,  however,  being  so  frail, 
were  not  well  adapted  to  support  the  necessary  strain,  and  conse- 
quently few  Hepplewhite  settees  are  to  be  found  in  this  country. 

Figure  174  shows  a  double  chair  belonging  to  Mr.  Luke  A. 
Lockwood,  following  a  very  popular  Sheraton  design  found  in  both 
arm-  and  side-chairs. 

Figure  175  shows  a  triple  chair,  in  the  writer's  possession,  in 
what  we  call  American  Sheraton  design,  and  is  much  like  the  chairs 
shown  in  Figure  164.  It  is  painted  black,  and  the  sinndlcs  and 
frame  are  enlivened  with  flowers  in  gilt,  a  few  of  which  may  still  be 
seen  in  the  illustration.  Such  pieces  date  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century. 

205 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


Figure  175. 
American  Sheraton  Settee,  1800-20. 


COUCHES 

As  the  settles  and  double  chairs  were  pieces  on  which  to  sit,  so 
couches  were  intended  to  lie  upon,  and  as  they  are  to  be  iound  in 
almost  all  the  designs  for  chairs,  from  the  turned  variety  through  the 
Empire  style,  they  very  evidently  formed  parts  of  sets  with  their  cor- 
responding chairs.  To  substantiate  this  the  inventories  show:  at 
Boston,  1702,  "7  cane  chairs,  i  couch  &  squab";  in  the  same  year, 
"  I  Doz.  cane  chairs  with  black  frames  i  couch  ditto  "  ;  at  Philadel- 
phia, 1686,  "  I  cane  couch  &  8  cane  chairs." 

As  might  be  expected  from  the  character  of  the  settlements,  and 
from  the  fact  that  the  couches  were  placed  at  high  valuations,  they 
appear  first  and  more  frequently  in  the  South  —  in  fact,  they  were  very 
common  throughout  the  South,  as  many  as  twenty-two  being  men- 
tioned in  the  inventories  at  Yorktown  between  1645  and  1670.  At 
Yorktown,  in  1647,  "i  old  turned  couch"  is  mentioned,  which  would 
indicate  that  the  piece  was  of  considerably  earlier  date  than  the  entry, 
and  another  is  mentioned  in  an  inventory  of  1645.     We  do  not  find 

206 


SETTLES,     COUCHES,    AND     SOFAS 

couches  inventoried  among  the  more  sturdy  New-Englanders  earlier 
than  the  inventory  of  John  Cotton,  of  Boston,  in  1652. 

After  that  date  we  hnd  them  occasionally  mentioned  in  the  North 
and  frequently  in  the  South,  but  the  descriptions  give  little  aid  in 
determining  their  character.  At  Yorktown,  in  1658,  mention  is  made 
of  "a  skin  couch";  in  1659,  "a  wainscoate  couch";  in  1667,  "i  couch 
cubbard."  At  New  York,  in  1691,  we  find  "3 
couches  /"3  "  ;  at  Yorktown,  in  1692,  "  i  couch  Tur- 
key worked  los";  at  Boston,  in  169S,  "an  old  couch," 
in  1700,  "a  red  couch,"  and  in  1709,  "one  couch 
covered";  at  Philadelphia,  in  1686,  "i  cane  couch 
£1,"  and  in  1706,  "  i  good  cane  couch  £2  " ;  at 
Providence,  in  1732,  "an  old  couch  £2." 


Figure  176. 

Flemish  Couch,  latter  half  seventeenth  century. 

(Seat  and  back  originally  cane.) 


These  early  couches  were  really  long  chairs  ;  that  is,  they  were 
without  backs  on  the  long  side,  while  on  one  end  there  was  a  back 
similar  to  a  chair-back  of  the  period  to  which  it  belongs,  with  three 
pairs  of  front  feet,  making  an  elongated  chair. 

Figure   176  shows  an  example  of  what  was  referred  to  in  the 

inventories  as  a    cane   couch.      It  will  be   observed  that  it  is  pure 

207 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Flemish  in  style,  with  the  scroll  feet  and  carved  underbrace,  and 
originally  the  seat  and  the  centre  of  the  back  were  cane,  and  the  head- 
piece was  movable,  held  at  any  angle  desired  by  chains,  as  in  the  next 
figure.  Such  pieces  are  still  occasionally  found  here,  but  the  end 
piece  is  rarely  so  high,  and  many  which  we  have  seen  do  not  have 
the  carved  brace  at  the  end,  although  it  appears  on  the  sides.  Another 
point  to  note  is  that  the  scroll  feet  turn  outward  instead  of  inward 
in  this  pure  Flemish  style,  which  is  more  fully  discussed  in  the  chap- 
ter on  Chairs. 

This  very  handsome  piece  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  F.  O. 
Pierce,  of  Brookl\n,  in  whose  family  it  has  always  been,  having  been 
brought  to  this  countrv  direct  from  Holland  bv  an  ancestor  named 
Lynde  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  is  one  of  the 
best  pieces  of  this  general  character  we  have  found  in  this  country. 

There  are  a  number  of  specimens  of  couches 
in  the  Dutch  st)le,  with  six  bandy  legs  and  plain 
feet,  extant,  one  of  which,  dating  about  1740—50, 
is  in  the  collection  of  l\Ir.  Henry  W.  Erving. 


Figure  177. 

Rush-bottom  Couch,  1730-40. 

Figure  177  is  an  example  of  a  couch  after  the  fashion  of  the 
every-day  chair  of  the  Queen  Anne  period,  dating  about  1730-40, 
which  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat ;   such  a  piece  may  have  been  referred 

to  in  an  inventory  at  Philadelphia,  in  1 750 :    "  a  rush  bottom  couch 

20S 


SETTLES,     COUCHES,    AND     SOFAS 

los."  It  will  be  noted  that  the  head-rest  is  arranged  with  a  chain  to 
raise  or  lower  to  the  proper  height  for  the  comfort  of  the  user ;  and 
the  seat  is  of  rush,  although  such  pieces  are  occasionally  found 
covered  with  leather. 

Figure  1 78  is  a  very  beautiful  example  of  a  Chippendale  couch 
or  long  chair  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Walter  Hosmer.     The  back 

will  be  recognized  as  being  in  one  of  the 
characteristic  Chippendale  designs,  and 
the  six  ball-and-claw  feet  are  in  splendid 
proportion.  The  seat  is  of  canvas,  laced 
over  wooden  knobs  fastened  to  the  side 
rail  after  the  fashion  of  many  bedsteads 


Figure  178. 

Chippendale  Couch,  1760-70. 

of  the  period,  and  it  is  intended,  of  course,  for  a  thin  mattress.  We 
should  date  it  about  i  760-70. 

Such  couches  are  more  often  found  with  the  plain  straight  legs 
than  with  the  cabriole  legs  and  ball-and-claw  feet. 

Figure  179  is  a  French  chaise-longue  which  belonged  originally 
to  Mr.  Joseph  Bonaparte  and  came  from  his  house  at  Bordentown, 
New  Jersey.  It  is  now  in  the  writer's  possession.  It  is  made  of 
beautifully  selected  mahogany,  and  the  carved  bear's  or  lion's  feet  are 
unusually  w^ell  executed.     The  arms  are  of  brass,  and  the  side  rails 

209 


COLONIAL     F  L  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

are  enriched  with  diamoml-shaped  panels,  marked  off  by  a  raised 
beading  of  ebony,  and  in  the  centre  of  each  panel,  graduating  in  size 
as  the  panel  becomes  smaller  at  the  rolling  ends,  is  a  rosette  of  ebony. 
A  large  rosette  of  ebony  finishes  the  four  ends,  and  four  ebony  lions' 
heads  finish  where  the  legs  join  the  frame.  The  design  found  on  the 
rails  as  here  described   appears   in   some  of  both   Hepplewhite  and 


Figure  179. 
Chaise-longue,  about  1800. 

Sheraton  designs.  The  seat  is  of  cane  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of 
hair.  This  piece,  when  found,  was  in  a  very  dilapidated  condition; 
but,  fortunately,  at  least  one  rosette  of  each  size  was  preserved,  as 
w-ell  as  the  brass  arms,  and  the  piece  has  consequently  been  restored 
to  look  as  it  originally  did.  It  dates  probably  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century. 

SOFAS 

We  now  come  to  a  kind  of  furniture  which  differs  from  the  settle 
and  double  chair  in  that  it  is  not  suggestive,  nor  does  it  follow  the 
designs  of  any  kind  of  chair.  It  is  of  rather  recent  invention,  at  least 
so    far  as    England    and    this    country    are    concerned,    not    having 


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O 


SETTLES,     COUCHES,    AND     SOFAS 

appeared  until  Chippendale's  time,  and  not  being  at  all  common  until 
Sheraton's  time,  for  Covvper,  in  "The  Task,"  written  in  i  781,  speaks  of 
sofas  as  novelties.  Chippendale  gives  several  designs  for  such  pieces, 
calling  them  French  sofas,  and  the  next  cabinet-maker  to  use  them  to 
any  extent  was  Sheraton  ;  but  by  far  the  largest  number  of  sofas 
extant  are  in  the  familiar  Empire  designs. 

Figure  180  shows  a  very  beautiful  sofa  preserved  at  Independence 
Hall,  Philadelphia,  and  at  one  time  the  property  of  George  Washing- 
ton. It  will  at  once  be  seen  to  have  the  lion's-claw-and-ball  feet  such 
as  are  seen  in  the  double  chair  numbered  172.  In  general  shape  it 
is  like  the  designs  given  for  sofas  in  Chippendale's  "  Director,"  and 
the  rococo  carving  on  the  bends  of  the  legs  places  it  beyond  question 


Figure  i8i. 
Sheraton  Sofa,  about  1800. 

in  that  style.  The  rear  legs  are  slightly  cabriole  in  shape,  which  is  a 
feature  of  English  pieces,  and  characteristic  of  the  better  chairs  of 
both  Chippendale  and  the  period  preceding  him.  The  sofa  is  now 
covered  with  haircloth,  probably  not  the  original  covering. 

213 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figure  i8i  is  a  Sheraton  sofa  which  was  purchased  in  1799  and 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  W.  W.  Andrews.  The  slender  fluted 
legs  are  characteristic.  Many  sofas  of  this  kind  were  owned  in  this 
country,  some  being  elaborately  inlaid  in  the  fashion  of  the  Sheraton 
desks  and  sideboards. 

After  1800,  sofas,  together  with  furniture  of  all  kinds,  followed 
the    Empire    style.     Figure    182    is    a    sofa,   dating    about    1810-20, 


Figure  1S2. 
Empire  Cornucopia  Sofa,  1810-20. 

commonly  called  a  cornucopia  sofa,  so  named  from  the  shape  and 
carving  of  the  arms.  The  round  pillows  shown  at  the  ends  of  this 
sofa,  and  commonly  provided  with  the  long  Empire  sofas,  are  a 
revival  of  a  very  old  fashion.  The  cane  couches,  which  were  in  use 
from  1680  to  1730,  were  provided  with  just  such  pillows,  which 
are  termed  in  the  inventories  "  squabs."  The  finer  Empire  sofas 
had  the  rails  carved,  and  occasionally  the  back  was  finished  in  a 
broken  arch. 

Fio-ure  183  is  an  example  of  another  sofa  of  about  the  same  date, 
without  the  cornucopia  ends,  the  feet  having  very  handsomely  carved 
wino-s  and  claws.      It  belon^rs  to  the  Misses  Brown,  of  Salem. 

Fio-ure  184  shows  another  example  of  an  Empire  sofa  very  com- 
mon in  the  South,  one  end  being  arranged  to  sit  at,  and  the  other 
end  forming  a  pillow  or  squab  on  which  to  recline,  thus  making  a 

214 


SETTLES,    COUCHES,    AND     SOFAS 

piece  of   furniture   more  comfortable  and    serviceable  than   the  two 
sofas  last  illustrated. 


Figure  183. 
Empire  Sofa,  1810-20. 


Such  pieces  as  the  three  last  mentioned  were  extremely  popular 
in  America  during  the  first  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  con- 


Figure  184. 
Empire  Sofa,  1810-20. 

tinned  in  favor  as  late  as  1850.      Many  of  them  were  originally  cov- 
ered with  haircloth  which  was  bordered  with  brass  nails. 


M 


V  I  I 
TAB  L  E  S 

ANY  of  the  facts  regarding  chairs  already  noted  are  appli- 
cable also  to  tables,  as  almost  every  form  of  chair  had 
its  corresponding  table. 

Durin^'"  Saxon  times  England  did  not  know  or  use  the  word 
table,  but  designated  what  the  Normans  called  tables  as  "hordes,"  and 
that  with  reason,  for  their  tables  were  long,  narrow  "hordes"  to  be 
placed  on  trestles  or  frames  when  in  use,  and  it  was  not  until  about 
the  year  1600  that  "standing  tables"  and  "dormant  tables"  are 
freely  mentioned. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  table-boards  and  frames  found  their 
way  to  this  countr)-,  for  the  mention  of  them  appears  frequently  in  the 
inventories  until  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century;  "  i  table  board 
and  joyned  frame,"  at  Plymouth,  in  1638;  "  i  long  table  board  and 
frame,"  at  .Salem,  in  1647;  "a  great  table  board  and  frame,"  at  New 
York,  in  1677;  and  "a  table  board,"  at  Philadelphia,  in  1687,  are 
some  of  the  items  regarding  them. 

The  boards  or  table-tops  were  sometimes  supplied  with  hinges 
so  that  they  could  be  folded  into  as  small  a  space  as  possible  when 
out  of  use.  The  frames  were  built  in  X  or  tresde  shape,  or  with 
heavy  stretchers  close  to  the  floor,  the  legs  being  sometimes  slighdy 
ornamented  with  carving  or  turning.  Figure  83,  which  shows  the 
long  tables  in  Christ  Church  College  dining-hall,  0.\ford,  doubtless 

216 


TABLES 

represents  very  well  the  way  the  table-board  and  frame  appeared 
when  in  use. 

Tables  referred  to  as  long  tables,  great  tables,  and  standing 
tables  were  probably  not  made  with  the  frame  separate.  They  are 
usually  accompanied  in  the  inventories  with  long  and  short  forms, 
just  such  benches  and  tables,  no  doubt,  as  those  shown  in  Figure  83, 
above  referred  to.  At  Plymouth,  in  1638,  there  is  mention  of  "  i 
table  and  joyned  form,"  and  in  1639,  "a  framed  table";  at  New 
York,  in  1669,  "  i  longe  table";  at  Salem,  in  1673,  "a  longe  table 
and  formes";  at  Boston,  in  1669,"!  long  cedar  table";  at  York- 
town,  in  1647,  "  I  long  framed  table";  in  1657,  "i  table,  7  feet";  in 
1660,  "  I  long  table" —  showing  that  early  in  the  history  of  the  colo- 
nies standing  tables  were  also  in  use. 

After  the  table  became  settled  as  a  distinct  piece  of  furniture,  the 
devices  for  making  it  adjustable  in  size  for  various  occasions  came 
into  beine-  The  first  of  these  devices  seems  to  have  been  the  draw- 
ing-table,  so  called  because  the  table  was  furnished  with  leaves  at  the 
ends  which  drew  out.  These  leaves  were  arranged  to  fold  back 
on  to  or  under  the  main  table  when  not  in  use,  and  when  drawn  out 
were  supported  by  wooden  braces  which  drew  out  from  the  frame 
and  held  the  ends  firmly  on  a  level  with  the  table.  This,  however, 
was  not  always  the  method  employed,  for  English  drawing-tables  are 
to  be  seen  where,  by  a  clever  arrangement,  the  table  is  made  to  sink 
to  a  level  with  the  leaves. 

The  frames  of  drawing-tables  were  made  after  the  fashion  pre- 
vailing in  the  long  tables  —  square  and  plain,  slightly  turned,  or  with 
a  huge  ball  or  acorn  forming  the  centre  portion  of  the  legs. 

They  are  mentioned  as  follows  in  the  inventories :  at  Boston,  in 
1653,  "In  the  parlour,  a  drawing  table  ^2  "  ;  in  1669,  "A  drawing 
table  and  carpett  £2  los";  and  at  New  York,  in  1697,  "an  oak 
drawing  table." 

Figure  1S5  shows  a  drawing-table  preserved  at  the  rooms  of  the 

217 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Connecticut  Historical  Society,  whicli  is  made  of  English  oak;  and 
although  the  leaves  are  missing,  the  place  they  occupied  shows  them 
to  have  been  2  feet  6%  inches  in  length,  while  the  top  is  6  feet  i  inch 
in  length  and  2  feet  1 1  fi  inches  in  width.  The  table,  therefore, 
when  opened  to  its  full  length,  would  have  been  a  little  over  1 1  feet 
long. 


Figure  1S5. 
Oak  Drawing-table,  early  seventeenth  century. 

Drawing-tables  were  never  common  in  the  colonies,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  inventories,  for  they  are  comparatively  seldom  men- 
tioned. 

Long  tables  and  joined  tables  continue  to  be  mentioned  as  late 
as  1775.  They  were,  it  is  perhaps  needless  to  say,  the  dining-tables 
of  their  day,  and  smaller  tables  made  after  the  same  fashion  are 
occasionally  found. 

Carpets  are  frequently  mentioned  with  the  long  tables,  and  were 

what  we  should  speak  of  as  table-covers  or  spreads.      "A  table  with 

a  table   carpet,"  in    1690,  "a  long  table   and   carpett,"  at   Boston,  in 

1652,  are  characteristic  entries. 

21S 


TABLES 

An  oak  table  42  inches  in  length  and  38  inches  in  width,  owned 
by  the  Historical  Society  of  Old  Newbury,  is  shown  in  Figure  186. 
The  curves  into  which  the  frame  is  cut,  with  the  quaint  little  drop 
ornaments,  suggest  quite  forcibly  the  Yorkshire  chairs,  well  known 


Figure  iS6. 
Oak  Table,  first  half  seventeenth  century. 


to  collectors,  and  plentiful  in  England  during  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. The  heavy  stretchers  about  the  table  near  the  floor  are  similar 
to  those  found  on  the  wainscot  chairs. 

Figure  187  shows  an  oak  table,  belonging  to  Mr.  Meggat, 
which  represents  fairly  well  the  common  tables  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  It  was  j^robably  such  tables  as  this  that  were  referred  to  at 
Salem,  in  1 684,  as  a  table  with  a  drawer ;  at  Philadelphia,  in  1686,  as"  i 
table  with  a  drawer  6s";  at  Boston,  in  1709,  as  "a  square  table  2s"; 
in  fact,  there  was  hardly  an  inventory  which  did  not  contain  an  entry 
of  at  least  one  table  of  small  valuation  called  "small,"  "square,"  or 

"short." 

219 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figure  i88  shows  a  table  of  the  same  order,  belonging  to  the 
Bulkeley  collection,  which  clearly  shows  the  change  from  the  heavily 


Figure  187. 


Oak  Table,  about  1700. 


Figure  188. 
Oak  Table,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

underbraced  tables  to  those   in  which  a  more  graceful  effect  is  ob- 
tained by  making  the  stretchers  turned  instead  of  plain,  and  substi- 


TABLES 

tilting  a  single  brace  through  the  centre.     This  same  development 
we  have  noted  in  chairs. 

Chair-tables,    if  treated  as  tables,  belong  to  this  general  class, 
but  of  necessity  the  drawer  is  under  the  seat  instead  of  under  the 


Figure  189. 

Chair-table,  1660-80. 

table-board,  as  in  the  preceding  figure.  Figure  189  shows  one  of 
these  chair-tables  as  a  table,  the  same  piece  appearing  as  a  chair  in 
Figure  92. 

The  joined  or  wainscot  tables  so  far  considered  represent  the 
oldest  style  of  table  to  be  found  in  this  country. 

The  ne.xt  kind  of  table  which  we  shall  consider  is  shown  in 
Figure  190,  a  large  walnut  table  with  leaves,  now  at  Pilgrim  Hall, 
Plymouth.  This  table,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  was  used 
by  Governor  Edward  Winslow  in  the  council-chamber  in  the  year 
1633.  Tables  of  this  kind  sometimes  had  leaves  both  at  ends  and 
sides,  supported  by  one  or  more  legs  which  swung  out  from  the  main 
frame.  This  construction  has  brought  about  the  familiar  designation 
of  "  thousand-legged  table."     It  will  be  seen  from  the  illustration  that 

00 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

the  drawer  which  should  be  at  the  near  end  of  the  table  is  missine. 
Nearly  all  of  these  tables,  when  of  large  size,  had  such  a  drawer  on 
the  side  runners  so  characteristic  of  the  seventeenth-century  drawers. 

Figure  191  shows  a  maple  thousand-legged  table  which  has  been 
fully  restored,  though  the  parts  are  all  original. 

At  Boston,  in  1669,  "an  ovall  table  £2,  los";  at  Philadelphia,  in 
1688,  "a  walnut  table  £2  los";  at  Yorktown,  in  1667,  "  i  ovall  table 


Figure  190. 

"Thousand-legged  Table,"  first  half  seventeenth  century. 

with  bolts  &  catches  ^3  ";  at  Salem,  in  1690,  "a  round  black  walnut 
table  £2  5s  "  ;  at  Boston,  in  1 699,  "  a  walnut  oval  table  £2  "  ;  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  1705,  "a  large  oval  table  £2";  at  Providence,  1727,  "an 
ovell  table  £2  5s,"  are  items  which  doubtless  refer  to  tables  of  the 
thousand-legged  variety.  They  are  always  valued  rather  high,  very 
seldom  under  two  pounds.  These  large  round  and  oval  tables  super- 
seded the  long  tables,  and  were  very  generally  the  dining-tables  of 
their  day.  Their  curved  edges  must  have  required  the  use  of  chairs 
rather  than  the  forms  used  with  the  long  tables.  The  inventories 
wherein  they  appear  are  those  of  the  well-to-do,  and  they  may  be 
regarded  as  the  fashionable  dining-table  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  dining-table  used  by  the  Van  Cortlandt  family  at  the  manor- 
house,  Croton-on-Hudson,  New  York,  since  early  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  is  one  very  like  that  shown  in  P^igure  190. 


TABLES 

Many  small  tables  were  made  with  similar  turned  frame  and 
bracing,  and  with  tops  both  round  and  oval,  but  without  leaves :  at 
Salem,  in  1647,  "a  little  round  table  7s";  at  Philadelphia,  in  1688,  "a 


Figure  191. 

"Thousand-legged  Table,"  latter  half  seventeenth  century. 

round  oak  table";  at  New  York,  in  1691,  "a  small  round  table  with 
turned  feet  6s";  and  at  Yorktown,  in  1661,  "  i  small  round  table," 
are  references  perhaps  to  such  as  these. 

Folding  tables  are  also  often  mentioned,  and  were  so  constructed 
that  one  half  of  the  turned  frame  folded  against  the  other,  and  the  top 
fastened  by  hinges  to  the  frame  dropped  at  the  side.  The  table, 
when  so  folded,  could  not,  of  course,  stand.  At  Philadelphia,  in  1686, 
a  folding  table  is  valued  at  six  shillings,  and,  in  1709,  "a  black 
walnut  folding  table"  at  £1  5s.  The  "ovall  table"  at  Yorktown  in 
1667,  "with  bolts  &  catches,"  above  referred  to,  may  have  been  a 
folding  table. 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

The  frames  of  the  largest  of  the  oval  and  round  tables  were  made 
narrow  so  that,  when  the  leaves  were  dropped,  the  tables  occupied  a 
comparatively  small  space.  There  seems  to  have  been  an  attempt 
made  by  this  and  other  means  to  provide  against  the  table  when  not 
in  use  taking  up  more  floor-room  than  necessary.  The  feet  of  tables 
with  the  turned  legs  and  stretchers  of  the  thousand-legged  variety 
were'  finished  with  the  round  or  flattened  ball,  or  with  the  Spanish 
foot  shown  in  the  chair  in  Figure  99. 


Figure  192. 
"Butterfly  Table,"  about  1700. 

A  style  of  oval  table  of  which  there  are  many  specimens  in  Con- 
necticut, but  which  appear  to  be  scarce  elsewhere,  is  shown  in  Figure 
192.  The  leaves  are  supported  by  the  curious-shaped  wings  which 
swing  either  way.  The  shape  of  these  supports  has  given  it  the 
name  "butterfly  table" — needless  to  say,  a  modern  name.  The  feet 
on  this  specimen  are  worn  away,  reducing  the  original  lieight  of  the 
table  slightly.  Tables  of  this  kind  are  commonly  of  maple  or  cherry, 
but  the  writer  knows  of  several  oak  ones,  probably  the  earliest  of  this 
style. 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  say  just  how  long  the  tables  of  the 

224 


TABLES 

styles  thus  far  considered  remained  in  fashion;  for  convenience'  sake,  it 
may  be  assumed,  without  danger  of  serious  error,  that  they  remained 
in  favor  until  the  middle  of  what  we  shall  call  the  Queen  Anne 
period —  i  700-40.  This  means  not  that  they  were  not  in  use  many 
years  after  this  date,  but  that  they  were  after  this  time  considered 
old-fashioned. 


Figure  193. 
X-Braced  Table,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

When  the  tall  chests  of  drawers,  with  the  frame  having  six  turned 
legs,  came  into  use  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  form 
of  the  frame  on  which  these  chests  were  placed  was  reproduced  in 
tables,  or  rather  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  the  dressing- 
tables  (see  Figure  25)  which  accompanied  the  chests  of  drawers  were 
copied  in  tables. 

Figure  193  shows  such  a  table  in  the  Erving  collection.  It  will 
be  observed  that  the  legs  suggest  more  the  turned  ones  shown  in 
Figures  190  and  191,  but  the  feet  and  stretchers  arc  clearly  on    the 


C  O  L  O  NM  A  L     ¥  V  R  X  1  1"  U  R  E 

order  of  the  dressing-tables.  The  wood  is  maple,  and  the  table 
originally  had  a  drawer,  which  is  missing,  and  for  that  reason  the 
back  of  the  table  was  photographed.  The  drawer  ran  on  the  bot- 
tom and  not  on  the  sides.     There  is  no  trace  of  there  ever  havinfr 


Figure  194. 
Slate-top  Table,  last  quarter  seventeenth  century. 

been  an  ornament  where  the  stretchers  cross.     Such  tables  as  these 

are    e.xtremely    rare,    the    writer    knowing    of   but    one    other,    and 

that  in  the  Bolles  collection.     There  is  also  in  the  Bolles  collection  a 

table  similar  to  this  having  three  legs  in  front,  but  of  course  in  this 

case  the  stretchers  run  between  the  legs,  as  in  the  six-legged  chests  of 

drawers.     Tables  with  frames  like  the  above-mentioned  were,  like  the 

dressing-tables   made  with  stone  or  slate  tops.     At  Boston,  in   1693, 

226 


MARQUETRY   TOP  OF    SLATE  TABLE   SHOWN    LX    FIGURE    194. 

{^Figure  igj.) 


TABLES 

are  mentioned  "in  the  lower  room  a  slate  table  ^'i  los";  in  1699,  "in 
the  hall  a  slate  table  ^i  los";  and  in  1703,  "a  table  with  a  stone  in 
the  middle  ^i." 

A  slate  or  stone  table  with  turned  frame,  the  legs  of  which  are 
much  like  those  in  the  preceding  figure,  having  the  stretchers  of  the 
older  turning  instead  of  the  Italian  X  shape,  is  shown  in  Figure  194. 
The  drawer  has  the  single-arch  moulding  and  the  drop  handle  of  the 
oldest  chests  of  drawers. 

Figure  195  shows  the  top  of  this  table,  now  much  worn  and  dis- 
fieured,  but  the  fine  inlaid  border  is  still  discernible,  and  must  have 
been  a  very  excellent  piece  of  work,  certainly  not  done  in  the  colo- 
nies. The  slate,  except  for  a  section  in  the  centre,  is  missing.  It 
belongs  to  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  of  Worcester. 

The  question  has  often  been  raised  as  to  whether  the  slate  tops 
were  intended  for  use,  or  were  a  mere  Ireak  ot  fashion.  The  reader 
will  observe  in  Figure  194  the  worn  condition  of  the  stretcher  on  the 
drawer  side  of  the  table,  which  certainly  indicates  that  the  feet  of  per- 
sons sitting  at  the  table  as  though  in  a  writing  position  had  worn  it. 

It  may  be  well  to  pause  here  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, which,  as  we  have  seen,  marks  the  end  of  the  oak  period,  to 
consider  a  number  of  kinds  of  tables  mentioned  in  the  inventories 
that  we  are  unable  to  place  among  any  of  those  already  mentioned : 
at  New  York,  in  1677,  "4  Spanish  tables  los";  at  Boston,  in  1698,  "a 
Jappan  table,"  of  what  shape  and  style  it  is  impossible  to  tell ;  at  New- 
York,  in  1686,  "2  speck  tables";  in  1689,  "adansick  table  /,'i,  "meaning 
a  table  from  that  place,  undoubtedly;  at  Philadelphia,  in  1687,  "i  inlaid 
table  with  a  drawer  and  two  stands  damnified  ^i.  '  which  ma\-  ha\e 
been  a  stone  table  with  marquetry  border ;  at  New  York,  in  i  702, 
"  I  French  table  with  balls  thereunto  belonging  ^3,"  probably  refer- 
ring to  a  billiard-table,  for  they  had  been  invented  as  early  as  137 1 
by  a  French  artist,  and  may  for  that  reason  have  been  called  French 

tables;  also,  in  1702,  "a  billyard  table  ^3." 

227 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figure  196  shows  a  table  belonging  to  Mr.  IMeggat,  followino- 
the  general  design  of  the  cabriole-legged  dressing-table,  just  as  Figure 
193  follows  the  design  of  the  turned-legged  dressing-table,  likewise 
having  a  single  drawer  with  a  ver)-  narrow  single-arch  moulding  about 


Figure  196. 
Dutch  Table,  1720-30. 

it  on  the  frame.  The  handles  are  the  etched  brasses  with  screw-bolt 
fastenincrs  of  the  Third  Period.  The  lesfs  have  a  finish  seen  on  some 
of  the  early  cabriole-legged  chests  of  drawers. 

A  quaint  little  Dutch  table,  which  is  owned  by  Miss  Esther 
Bidwell,  of  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  and  was  bought  about  the  year 
1730,  is  shown  in  Figure  197.  The  wood  is  cherry,  and  the  curves 
with  which  the  frame  is  finished  correspond  to  the  bandy-legged  dress- 
ing-table, belonging  also  to  Miss  Bidwell,  shown  in  Figure  34.  This 
table,  together  with  one  a  little  larger,  and  the  tea-table  shown  in 
Figure  200,  belong  to  the  same  set  of  furniture.  The  top  extends 
about  eight  inches  beyond  the  frame,  and  is  scalloped  to  match.      It 

would  seem  as  though  tables  of  this  style,  which  accord  so  well  with 

228 


TABLES 


Figure  197. 

Dutch  Table,  about  1730. 


the  prevailing  furniture  of  all  kinds,  must  have  been  fairly  common, 

but  these  two  are  the  only  ones  of  which  the  writer  knows. 
A  common  form  of  Dutch 

table  with  a  round  top,  in  the 

possession    of  the    writer,    is 

shown   in    Figure    198.      The 

frame  is  narrow,  and  the  semi- 
circular leaves,  when  dropped, 

make  the  table  small  enough 

to  be  easily  disposed  ol.      The 

feet  on  this  piece  are  worn,  so 

that   the   shape   is   somewhat 

impaired.     Tables  of  this  kind 

were  made  in  larsfe  sizes  and  used  as  dininsf-tables  after  the  "  thou- 

sand-leijgred  "  table  went  out  of  fashion. 

A  familiar-shaped  table  of  mahogany,  with  ball-and-claw  feet  of 

somewhat  later  date  than    the    preceding,   is   shown    in   Figure    199. 

The  oeee  curves  at  the  ends  of 
the  frame  indicate  that  it  is  an 
early  one  of  its  kind. 

Tea-tables  begin  to  be 
mentioned  about  this  time  — 
one  at  New  York  in  i  705  (the 
first  mention  we  have  found), 
one  at  Philadelphia  in  1720, 
and  one  at  Boston  in  1732. 

The  Pennsylvania  "  Ga- 
zette"     for     July     7,      1737,     ad- 


Figure  19S. 
Dutch  Table  with  Two  Leaves,  1720-40. 


vertises  tea-table  bolts,   show- 
ing   that    the    tea-tables    with 

adjustable  tops,  arranged  with  bolts  to  hold  the  table-top  in  place, 

must  have  been  well  known  at  this  time. 


22y 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

A  small  tea-table  of  cherry,  belonging  to  Miss  Bidwell,  is  shown 
in  Figure  200.  It  dates  about  t  730,  and  is  in  its  original  state, 
except  for  a  portion  of  the  raised  moulding,  which  is  missing.  The 
mouldings,  which  project  above  the  table  about  an  inch,  were  intended 
to  prevent  the  china  from  being  knoclced  off     This  style  of  table  has 


Figure  199. 

Mahogany  Drop-leaf  Table,  1750. 

received  the  name  of  "Martha  Washington  tea-table"  from  the  fact 
that  she  owned  one,  still  to  be  seen  at  Mount  Vernon. 

iMgure  201  shows  another  tea-table  of  the  same  general  style 
but  later  date,  belonging  to  Mr.  Meggat.  The  edge  will  be  seen  to 
be  cut  from  the  solid  wood  and  not  applied  as  a  moulding.  The 
brass  handles  are  somewhat  imusual,  but  are  quite  in  accord  with  the 
drapery  effect  much  used  in  decoration  during  the  Queen  Anne 
period.      It  dates  about  1750. 

A  candle-stand,  or  possibly  a  small  tea-table,  as  the  top  is  made 
to  fall  to  one  side,  is  shown  in  Figure  202.      Stands  of  this  kind  were 

230 


TABLES 


Figure  200. 
Tea-table,  about  1730. 


Figure  201. 

Tea-table,  1  740-50. 


C  O  L  O  N  I  A  L     F  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

very  plentiful  throughout  the  colonies,  and  were  evidently  made  for 
many  years.  Three  stands  are  mentioned  at  Boston  as  early  as  1676  ; 
"2  olive  wood  candle  stands,"  at  Philadelphia,  in  1683.  The  china 
shown  on  this  piece  is  from  a  Lowestoft  tea-ser\ice  purchased  in 
1799.     This  stand  and  china  belong  to  Mrs.  W.  \V.  Andrews. 


Figure  202. 
Tripod  Candle-stand,  1720-40. 


Tripod  candle-stands,  about  four  feet  high,  and  with  very  small 
tops,  were  made,  apparendy  designed  to  hold  a  candle  beside  a  high 
bedstead.  Chippendale  gives  designs  for  such  stands,  and  remarks 
that  they  should  be  made  from  3  feet  6  inches  to  4  feet  6  inches  high. 

The  handsomest  of  the  Dutch  tea-tables  were  what  are  popu- 
larly known  as  "pie-crust  tables."  One  which  came  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat,  is  shown,  both  open  and  closed,  in 
Figures  203  and  204.  The  scalloped  moulding  is  carved  from  the 
solid  wood,  and  the  pedestals  and  knees  of  these  tables  are  often 
beautifully  carved.  The  feet  are  almost  invarial^ly  finished  with  the 
ball-and-claw.      Not  many  of  the  pie-crust  tables  are  found  in  New 


TABLES 


233 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

England  —  the  South,  especially  V'^irginia  and  Pennsylvania,  furnishing 
the  majority  of  the  best  work  in  carved  mahogany. 

Tea-tables  with  tripod  stands,  both  with  plain  and  ball-and-claw 
feet,  are  found  in  many  sizes.  The  tops  are  usually  round,  but  a 
square  or  octagonal  top  is  occasionally  seen.  They  are  made  to  re- 
volve on  a  pivot  as  well  as  to  drop  to  one  side. 


Figure  205. 
Tea-tray  Table,  1750-75. 

A  little  tea-table  belonging  to  the  writer,  and  dating  about  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  is  shown  in  Figure  205.  The  top  is 
practically  a  tray  with  handles,  but  is  securely  fastened  to  the  frame. 
The  whole  table  is  so  light,  however,  as  to  be  readily  moved  as  occa- 
sion requires.  It  is  the  only  one  of  just  this  kind  with  which  the  writer 
has  met  in  this  country,  and  the  style  was  probably  not  common. 

An  e.xample  of  a  fine  mahogany  table,  belonging  to  Mrs.  E.  W. 
Jenkins,  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  which  probably  was  made  in 
New  England,  is  shown  in  Figure  206.  It  is  finished  with  equal  care 
on  both  front  and  back,  and  the  carving  is  exceedingly  well  done. 
This  table  approaches  quite  nearly  the  Chippendale  fashion,  and,  had 
the  rail  been  carved,  could,  without  question,  be  called  Chippendale. 
It  is  at  least  American  Chippendale. 

Card-tables  begin  to  appear  in  the  inventories  about  i  730 :  "  a 
walnut  card  table  "  is  mentioned  at  Boston  in  1732. 

234 


TABLES 

Two  mahogan)-  card-tables,  which  came  /rom  the  South  and 
belong  to  Mr.  Meggat,  are  shown  in  Figures  207  and  208.  They 
are  constructed  in  the  usual  way,  with  the  two  top  sections  hinged  at 
the  centre  so  that  one  half  rests  on  the  other  or  leans  against  the 


Figure  206. 
Chippendale  Table,  1760-80. 


wall  when  not  in  use ;  when  opened  for  use  the  leaf  is  supported  by 
one  of  the  legs,  which  swings  out  for  that  purpose.  Figure  207  has 
a  drawer,  which  is  somewhat  unusual.  In  general  design  it  is  like 
the  table  shown  in  Figure  206,  although  not  so  well  executed.  Fig- 
ure 208  belongs  to  the  block-front  variet\-,  but  the  plainness  of  the 
rails  gives  it  a  somewhat  unfinished  appearance.  Card-tables  similar 
to  this  are  found  which  have  both  rear  legs  arranged  extension 
fashion,  which,  pulling  out  from  the  frame,  support  the  leaf 

Tables    of   walnut    chcrrj-,   and    mahogany,    with    more    or    less 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

carving,  and  cabriole  legs  with  and  without  ball-and-claw  feet, 
remained  in  fashion  from  about  1720  until  1 780,  when  the  Hepple- 
white  designs  became  very  generally  used.  The  tables  just  consid- 
ered, covering  the  period  between  1740  and  1780,  correspond  in  date 
with  the  Chippendale  j^eriod  in  England,  and  it  may  be  correctly  said 


n^ 


Figure  207. 

Chippendale  Card-table,  i  760-80. 


that  they  are  in  general  Chippentlale,  as  the  wood  is  commonly 
mahogany,  except  in  Pennsylvania  and  \  irginia,  where  walnut  con- 
tinued to  be  extensively  used  for  the  tmer  pieces  throughout  this 
period,  and  the  decoration,  carving,  and  the  outlines  are  those  that 
he  elaborated  and  perfected.  Not  many  pieces  of  furniture  which 
follow  his  designs,  except  in  a  very  general  way,  are  to  be  found  in 
this  country,  though  an  occasional  table  with  the  rail  carved  in  fret 
and  the  legs  handsomely  carved  is  found  which  may  be  called  real 
Chippendale.  Erom  the  time  the  large  "  thousand-legged  "  table  went 
out  of  fashion  until  the  extension-table  was  invented,  in  the  year 
1800,  by  Robert  Gillow,  tables  of  various  kinds  served  the  purpose 


2.36 


TABLES 

of  dining-tables ;  the  Dutch  tables  with  round  tops,  such  as  Figure 
198,  were  made  large  enough  for  that  purpose,  and  were  quite 
o-enerally  used.  At  Boston,  in  1 760,  appears  the  following  entry : 
"  2  square  mahogany  tables  £t  "  ;  and  in  i  770,  "  two  mahogany  ends 
for  tables  £6  " ;  these  were  undoubtedly  the  tables  made  in  twos  and 
threes  to  be  placed  together  and  in  that  way  obtain  the  desired 
size.  They  w^ere  made  sometimes  with  each  table  in  half-circle 
form,  thus  obtaining  a  circular  table.      Sometimes  the  half-tables  are 


Figure  208. 
Chippendale  Card-table,  1760-80. 

oval,  with  a  wide  square  leaf,  so  that  when  two  of  these  are  placed 
together  they  form  a  long  table  with  round  ends.  Again,  the  tables 
will  be  in  sets  of  three,  the  centre  one  oblong  and  the  two  end  ones 
oval  or  square.  Such  tables  as  these  were  made  with  the  plain 
straight  leg,  with  or  without  inlay,  and  with  the  fluted  leg  in 
Sheraton  style,  and  also  in  the  pillar-and-claw  style  of  the  American 
Empire.     They  date  probably  from  about  1760  to  1820. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton  styles, 
between  the  years  1  780  and  1 800,  the  cabriole  leg  was  dropped  and 
the  straight  square  leg  or  the  slender  fluted  leg  took  its  place  on 
furniture  of  every  kind,  and  carving  was  superseded  by  inlay  or 
marquetry.     The  wood  continued  to  be  principally  mahogany. 

237 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figure  209  shows  an  oval  table  in  French  walnut  of  character- 
istic Hepplewhite  design.  The  top  is  inlaid  about  an  inch  from  the 
edge  with  a  narrow  line  of  ebony  outlined  with  white  holly,  the  front 
and  legs  with  the  same  woods,  and  the  little  wreath  which  decorates 
the  legs  will  be  seen  to  be  the  same  as  that  shown  in  the  Hepplewhite 


Figure  209. 

Hepplewliite  Table,  17S0-90. 

sideboard  in  Figure  73.  This  table  was  found  in  Virginia,  and  belongs 
to  the  writer.  A  table  which  may  be  said  to  be  Sheraton,  though  it 
suggests  Adam  very  strongly  in  the  classic  decoration  employed,  is 
shown  in  Figure  210.  The  decoration  on  the  legs  consists  of  stripes 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  width  at  the  top,  tapering  to  an  eighth  at  the 
bottom,  of  rosewood  inlaid  in  satinwood.  The  top  is  satinwood 
bordered  with  rosewood,  and  the  frame  of  the  table  and  the  drawer 
are  made  of  oak,  which  indicates  that  this  table  was  not  made  in 
this  country.  The  brass  rosette  and  ring  handles  and  urn  escutch- 
eon are  very  characteristic  of  Sheraton. 

During  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  card-tables 
were  very  common,  and  large  numbers  of  them  survive  in   Hepple- 

238 


TABLES 

white  and  Sheraton  style,  and  show  very  well  the  straight  and  fluted 
leg  used  by  those  designers. 

Figure  21  i,  a  Hepplewhite  table  belonging  to  Mrs.  W.  W.  An- 
drews,  of  Wethersfield,   Connecticut,   is   of  walnut  inlaid  with  rose- 


Figure  210. 
Sheraton  Table,  1780-90. 

wood  and  white  holly.  The  top  is  hinged  at  the  centre,  and  when 
open  is  supported  by  a  leg  which  swings  toward  the  back.  Tables 
of  this  design  are  frequently  referred  to  as  Chippendale.  This 
is  a  misnomer,  as  the  use  of  inlay  and  the  square  tapering  leg  at 
once  proclaim. 

A  Sheraton  card-table,  belonging  to  Miss  Manning,  is  shown  in 
Figure  212.  The  wood  is  mahogany  with  inlay  of  varicolored 
woods.  Its  method  of  construction  is  the  same  as  the  preceding, 
and  its  date  also  probably  the  same,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton  styles  were  largely  used  in  this 
country  with  equal  favor  during  the  last  ten  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

239 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Delicate  little  sewing-tables  are  to  be  seen  in  both  these  fash- 
ions, the  tops  of  which  are  sometimes  arranged  to  lift,  disclosing  a 
cabinet  with  compartments  designed  to  fit  sewing  utensils  of  all 
kinds.  Another  familiar  arrangement  has  a  drawer  with  the  com- 
partments, and  just  beneath  a  frame  to  which  is  attached  a  silk  or 
velvet  bag ;  the  frame  draws  out  like  a  drawer,  and  the  bag  is  thus 
held  open,  making  a  very  convenient  repository  for  needlework  of  all 
kinds. 

With  Sheraton's  late  designs,  about  the  year  1800,  the  fine  out- 
lines that  distinguished  the  cabinet  work  of  the  eighteenth  century 
passed  out  of  style,  and  in  their  place  came  the  rather  uncouth  and 
heavy  designs  known  as  Empire.  As  almost  all  the  genuine  old 
furniture  now  to  be  found  for  sale  in  this  countr)-  follows  this  fashion, 
it  will  be  well  to  consider  it  somewhat.  After  the  F"rench  Revolution 
there  was  a  reaction  against  everything  that  had  formerly  been  in 
favor  in  art  as  well  as  in  social  realms,  and  there  was  an  effort  to  bring 
in  a  completely  new  fashion  in  furniture.  The  design  of  Empire 
furniture  is  largely  a  revival  of  the  classic,  particularly  of  the  Egyp- 
tian classic,  brought  about  by  the  Napoleonic  e.xpeditions.  The  use 
of  the  sphinx  head,  with  the  bear's  and  lion's  feet,  the  column  mounted 
in  brass  or  gilt,  the  classic  tripod  for  the  frames  of  tables,  are  all  dis- 
tinguishing features  of  this  style.  American  Empire  followed,  to 
some  extent,  a  fashion  of  its  own,  and  adopted  from  the  French  what 
best  suited  the  maker.  The  use  of  bronze  was  not  extensive  here, 
but  brass  was  used  to  some  extent  for  the  feet  of  the  tables,  chairs, 
etc.,  and  for  pillar  mountings ;  the  handles  were  very  generally  the 
lion's  head  with  the  ring.  The  lyre,  one  of  Sheraton's  favorite  de- 
signs, was  much  liked  for  table  supports,  and  for  decorating  the  backs 
of  chairs.  It  may  be  said  with  truth  that  no  finer  mahogany  was 
ever  used  than  that  employed  in  the  Empire  sideboards  and  tables. 
The  carving  often  is  very  good,  but  coarse,  and  the  veneering  the 
very  best  of  its  kind. 

240 


o 


J 
ri 


U 


o 


o 

00 


a 


«     U 


241 


TABLES 

The  Empire  card-table  shown  in  Eigure  213  was  probably 
made  by  Duncan  Phyfe,  a  prominent  cabinet-maker  of  New  York 
early  in  the  nineteenth  century.  The  table  shows  the  use  of  the 
brass  foot  and  lyre  support.     The  top  in   tables  of  this  kind  turns 


Figure  213. 

Empire  Card-table,  about  1810. 


around  on  the  frame,  and  is  supported  by  bringing  the  seam  across 
the  frame.      This  table  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat. 

A  work-table  having  the  brass  trimmings  and  feet  is  shown  in 
Figure  214.  The  pillar  and  base  with  which  this  table  is  made  are 
of  a  design  used  in  tables  of  all  sorts. 

About  1820-30  the  strictl)'  classical  ornaments  and  the  fash- 
ion of  trimming  with  metal  was  largely  superseded  in  this  country  by 
the  extensive  use  of  heavy  carving. 

243 


COL  C)  N  I  A  L     F  U  R  NM  T  V  R  E 

Figure  215  was  a  card-table  made  in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  by 
Nathaniel  Appleton,  about  the  year  1820,  and  now  in  the  possession 
of  his  o-randdauehters,  the  Misses  Brown.     The  rope-carvin<'- and  the 


Figure  214. 
Empire  Work-table,  1S20-30. 


acanthus-leaf  capital  are  designs  used  to  a  large  extent  on  the  posts 
of  Empire  bedsteads. 

The  table  shown  in  Mgure  216,  which  belongs  to  Mrs.  Alexan- 
der Forman,  of  Brookhn,  is  known  as  a  pillar-and-claw  table.  This 
is  one  of  a  pair  designed  to  be  fitted  together  to  form  a  dining-table. 
Pillar-and-claw  tables  were  sometimes  made  in  |)airs,  having  the 
tops  folding  like  card-tables,  and  on  being  opened  and  fitted 
toorether  formed  a  table  \onir  enough  to  seat  twelve  or  fourteen 
people. 

A  form  of  table  sometimes  called  a  sofa-table,  both  sides  of  which 

are  finished  alike,  which  combines  the  use  of  the  l\re  in  wood  with 

the  heavy  carving  which  came  later,  is  shown  in  Figure  217.     The 

rope-carved  edge  was  extensively  used  about   1840,  the  date  of  this 

table. 

244 


TABLES 


Figure  215. 

Empire  Card-table,  iSio-ao. 


Figure  216. 

Emjiire  Pillar-and-claw  Table,  1810-20. 

24s 


TABLES 

The  last  of  the  liand-made  tables  were  made  with  a  heavy  centre 
pillar,  which  was  sometimes  octagonal,  but  more  often  square  fin- 
ished with  a  square  base,  at  each  corner  of  which  was  a  small  ball- 
shaped  foot  or  a  clumsy  scroll. 


Figure  217. 
Sofa-table,  i Si 0-20. 


246 


\M  I  I 
DESKS    AND     SCRUTOIRS 

DESKS,  in  one  form  or  another,  have  been  known  from  the 
I  eighth  centur\-.  In  his  "  Natural  History  "  Bacon  makes 
the  following-  remark :  "  Some  trees  are  best  for  planchers, 
as  deal;  some  for  tables,  cupboards  and  desks,  as  walnut";  showing 
that  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  desks  were  appar- 
ently in  common  use  in  England. 

The  word  desk  in  the  early  inventories  in  England  and  this 
country  had  a  different  meaning  from  that  now  given  to  it.  It  meant 
a  bo.x  which  held  the  writing  materials,  the  lid  of  which  was  some- 
times used  as  a  smooth  surface  upon  which  to  write.  These  early 
desks  were  inventoried  at  very  low  figures,  anywhere  from  is.  to  ^i. 
The  highest  prices  we  have  found  are:  at  Salem,  in  1647,  "His  deske 
^i";  one  at  30s.  at  New  York,  in  1691  ;  a  walnut  desk  at 
Philadelphia,  in  1705,  30s.;  and  at  the  same  place,  in  1706,  "a 
walnut  tree  deske  inlaid  £6,"  which  is  so  far  above  the  highest  valu- 
ations elsewhere  found  that  if  it  were  not  for  the  early  date,  and  the 
fact  that  a  distinction  was  made  all  through  these  years  between 
desks  and  scrutoirs,  we  should  believe  it  to  have  been  a  scrutoir  ami 
not  a  desk-bo.x. 

Most  of  the  desk-boxes  were  undoubtedly  perfectly  plain  deal, 
maple,  oak,  or  walnut  boxes,  and  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  they  have 
been  lost    because   not    considered   worthy   of  care.      Consequently, 

^47 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

nearly  all  that  are  now  to  be  found  are  carved  more  or  less,  and  some 
so  beautiful])-  that  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile  the  low  inventory  valua- 
tion with  the  pieces. 

These  boxes  or  desks  were  apparently  used  for  two  purposes : 
one  as  a  place  in  which  to  keep  books,  more  especially  the  Bible,  and 
the  other  for  valuable  papers  and  writing  materials. 

In  the  early  days  when  the  Bible  was  a  treasure  possessed  by 
but  few,  it  was  kept  under  lock  and  key  in  a  box  oi  this  kind,  often 
beautifully  carved,  to  be  taken  out  and  read  at  a  gathering  of  the 
neighbors.  By  some  these  boxes  are  called  "  Bible-boxes  "  to  this 
day.  Thus  at  Philadelphia,  in  1726,  we  find  "  Escritore,  small  table, 
deske  Holy  Bible  ^5  los,"  the  desk  very  likely  being  on  the 
table,  and  the  Bible  either  in  or  on  the  desk.  Again,  in  the  same 
place,  the  same  year,  "  a  book  desk  26s." 

Some  of  these  boxes  were  carved  on  the  front,  sides,  and  top ; 
sometimes  the  top  was  flat  and  sometimes  slanted.  We  are  inclined 
to  believe  that  the  boxes  with  carved  or  steeply  slanted  tops  were,  as 
a  rule,  I)ible-boxes,  the  slanting  top  being  of  a  convenient  slope  to 
hold  the  book  while  it  was  being  read,  while  the  flat-top  or  slightly 
slanted  ones,  uncarved  on  top,  were  for  desks. 

The  boxes  vary  in  size  from  i  7  to  30  inches  in  length,  and  the 
inside,  especially  in  those  intended  for  desks,  often  contained  the 
small  till  or  compartment  so  frequently  found  in  the  chests,  which 
was  doubtless  intended  to  hold  the  writinof  materials,  and  sometimes 
they  contained  pigeonholes,  and  sometimes  a  shelf  running  the  long 
way  of  the  box.  This  style  of  box  is  sometimes  spoken  of  in  the 
inventories  as  a  "paper-box,"  as  recorded  at  New  York,  in  1691,  "a 
small  black  walnutt  paper  box,"  and  in  1702,  "  In  the  writing  closett 
I  old  desk  for  papers." 

The  first  mention  in  the  inventories  of  anything  to  do  with  writing 

is  at  Plymouth  in  1633,  which  is  the  earliest  )ear  for  which  inventories 

are  given  in  this  country:    "A  writing  table  of  glass  4d."     This  word 

248 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 


here  probably  means  tablet,  and  it  was,  we  believe,  a  plate  of  glass, 
perhaps  framed,  which  was  laid  on  the  lap  or  table  to  obtain  a  per- 
fectly smooth  surface,  in  much  the  same  way  as  is  sometimes  done 
to-da)- ;  and  in  Philadelphia,  in  1687,  appears  "A  writing  slab  & 
frame  8d,"  clearly  indicating  such  a  piece. 

Probably  the  first  mention  of  a  desk  in  this  country  is  that  at 
Plymouth,  in  1644,  "  i  little  desk  is,"  which  modest  price  would  lead 
us  to  suppose  it  was  but  a  pine 


box.       Asrain,    at    Boston, 

o 


m 


1676,  "2  cedar  desks  i^"; 
and  in  New  York,  in  1689, 
"one  desk  i6s";  and  in  1691, 
"one  desk  or  box  30s." 

Mgure  21S  is  a  good  ex- 
ample of  a   Bible-box    in    the  Figure  21.S. 
possession  of  the   Connecticut                          Bible-box,  1649. 
Historical  Society.      It  is  made 

of  Enidish  oak  throuohout,  and  is,  therefore,  doubtless  of  Encrlish 
make.  It  bears  the  inscription  "  M.  S.  1649"  on  its  front  panel. 
The  carving  is  of  a  very  early  pattern,  and  the  circles  on  the  side 
and  top  suggest  a  design  popular  in  Holland  early  in  the  century, 
while  that  on  the  front  suggests  an  English  design  first  appearing  in 
James   I's  reign. 

Figure  219  shows  a  slant-top  writing-desk  belonging  to  the 
Long  Island  Historical  Society.  It  is  made  throughout  of  English 
oak,  and,  in  addition  to  the  band  of  carving  which  appears  in  the  illus- 
tration, there  is  a  faint  tracery  about  the  edge  of  the  lid.  It  was 
brought  from  England  by  William  Wells,  who  landed  at  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  in  1639,  and  in  1640  removed  to  Southold,  Long 
Island.  An  interesting  feature  to  note  about  this  desk  is  that  the 
slant  top  was  apparently  used  to  write  upon,  as  it  shows  decided  wear. 

At  the  back  of  the  desk,  on  the  inside,  are  five  pigeonholes  and  one 

249 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  N  I T  U  R  E 

drawer,  which  is  an  unusual  arrangement,  and  clearly  indicates  that 
the  piece  was  a  writing-box.  It  is  considerably  larger  than  usual, 
its  dimensions  being   28   inches  in  length,   22, '<    inches  in   width,   11 


I'igure  219. 

Desk-box,  first  half  seventeenth  century. 


inches  high  in  the  back,  6^4  inches  high  in  front.      The  pigeonholes 
are  y ^4.  inches  long  and  4.}^  inches  deep. 

Figure  220  shows  a  flat-top  desk-box  in  the  characteristic  pattern 
of  the  Hadley  chests  (see  Figure  12),  including  initials.      It  is  made 


Figure  220. 

Desk-box  in  "Hadley"  Pattern,  1690-1710. 

of  American  oak,  and  has  only  the  front  panel  carved,  as  is  usual  in 
the  American-made  boxes.  It  dates,  probably,  about  the  same  as 
the  Hadley  chests,  1690-1710.  It  is  impossible  from  its  present 
condition  to  determine  whether  it  was  stained,  as  were  the  Hadley 
chests,  or  not. 

250 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

Figure  221  shows  another  desk-box,  in  an  unusual  conventional 
desien,  which  we  have  not  before  seen.  This,  too,  is  made  of  Ameri- 
can  oak,  and  is  carved  only  on  the  front.  The  initial  N  stands  for 
Nott,  the  name  of  the  family  who  formerly  owned  it.  Both  these  two 
last-mentioned  boxes  are  in  the  Erving  collection.  This  desk  is  23^ 
inches  long,  7>j  inches  high,  and  16  inches  deep. 


Figure  221. 
Desk-box,  latter  half  seventeenth  century. 

Figure  222  illustrates  an  extremely  rare  piece  of  furniture  which 
may  be  called  a  desk  on  a  frame.  This  is  in  the  Erving  collection. 
The  piece  is  still  in  the  condition  in  which  it  Mas  found  ;  consequently 
onl\-  a  general  idea  of  such  a  piece  can  be  obtained  from  the  illustra- 
tion. It  stands  32, '<  inches  high,  and  is  24  inches  wide  and  16  inches 
deep,  and  consists  of  a  desk  or  box  part  opening  from  the  top  in  the 
usual  way,  with  a  drawer  below.  An  unusual  feature  of  this  piece  is 
the  shelf  at  the  bottom.  Only  one  applied  ornament  remains  on  the 
front,  and  one  turtle-back  on  the  side,  but  the  piece  originally  had  a 
double  row  of  turned  ornaments  on  the  stiles,  and  a  moulding  finished 
the  edge  of  the  shelf  part  below.  The  only  carving  is  that  which 
appears  on  tht:  drawer,  which  is  the  early  half-circle  pattern  often 
found  on  tht;  upper  rails  of  chests.      The  piece  dates  about  1675. 

V'ery  few  of  these  desks  on  frames  have  come  to  light.  We 
know  of  two  with  carved  panels  and  drawers,  but  without  the  lower 
shelf  and  also  two  panelled  ones,  which  stand  much  lower,  on  short, 

251 


COLO  N  I  A  L     F  U  R  NM  1   LM^l  E 

turned  legs,  also  without  the  shelf.  It  is  believed  by  some  that  these 
boxes  may  have  been  used  for  linen,  but  we  can  see  no  reason  for 
their  being  put  to  such  use  when  the  linen  could  have  been  better 
stored  in  the  larger  chests.  Such  a  piece  as  this,  we  believe,  is 
referred  to   in  a   Boston   inventor)-  of   1672,    "  1  desk  and  frame  los," 


Figure  222. 

Desk  on  Frame,  about  1675. 

and  again  in    1683,"!  standing  desk,  standish  and  box  /,i   5s,"  and 

the   expression  appears    occasionally  throughout  the   inventories   at 

New  York,  Boston,  and  other  places  up  to  about  1690. 

It  seems  beyond  question  that  such  pieces  as  Figure  222  were 

used   as  desks,  for,  throughout  the  inventories,  whenever  the  words 

"and  frame"  are  used  they  refer  to  a  piece  raised  from  the  floor,  as 

distinguished   from    those    resting   on    feet    or  directly   on    the   floor. 

252 


DESKS     AND     S  C  R  U  T  O  I  R  S 

This,  as  is  shown  in  the  chapter  on  Chests  of  Drawers,  was  the 
way  the  change  from  low  chests  of  drawers  to  those  commonly  called 
high-boys  was  first  designated  in  the  inventories,  and  as  it  was  during 
this  very  time  that  this  distinction  was  first  noted  with  respect  to 
chests  of  drawers,  we  conclude  that  the  same  distinction  was  intended 
wherever  this  expression  is  used.  Furthermore,  in  none  of  the  inven- 
tories does  any  expression  appear  but  this  which  could  possibly  refer 
to  such  pieces,  nor  are  any  other  pieces  extant  to  which  the  expres- 
sion desk  and  frame  could  apply. 

From  about  the  year  1660,  or  possibly  a  little  earlier,  a  new  style 
of  furniture  for  writing  purposes  seems  to  have  come  into  use  called 
"scrutore,"  or  "  scriptoire,"  as  some  of  the  inventories  call  them.  It 
may  be  assumed  that  the  influence  of  Charles  I  and  II,  with  their 
French  ideas  and  fancies,  had  something  to  do  with  the  change. 

One  is  instantly  impressed,  on  reading  the  early  inventories,  with 
the  fact  that  up  to  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century 
scrutoirs  are  inventoried  at  much  higher  figures  than  desks,  it  being 
very  seldom  that  they  are  placed  at  a  lower  valuation  than  £1, 
while  the  average  is  easily  from  £6  to  ^7.  A  good  illustration  of  the 
above  appears  in  a  Boston  inventory  of  1709:  "a  desk  3s,"  "  i  scrip- 
tore  £6."  Among  the  various  inventories  we  find  the  following  :  at 
Boston,  1669,  "scritoire  and  desk  /,"io";  in  1683,  "a  scriptore  £2." 
"a  small  scriptore  los";  in  1704,  "a  l)lack  walnut  scrutoire "  ;  in 
1717,  "a  scriptore  /"8  "  ;  and  in  i  723  one  for  ^12;  at  Salem,  in  1684, 
"a  large  scriptoire  ^5";  at  New  York,  in  1691,  "a  scrutore  without 
a  lock  20s";  and  in  1704,  "2  schrutoors  £\j,"  the  last  a  spelling 
which  none  but  a  Dutchman  could  have  executed  ;  at  Philadelphia, 
in  16S7,  "I  screwtor  £1";  in  1705,  "a  scrutor  &  large  Bible  £2 
5s";   and  in  1720,  "  i  black  pine  screwtor  ^4." 

What  these  earliest  scrutoirs  were  it  is  difficult  to  determine.  It 
is  generally  believed  that  they  were  of  the  ball-foot,  slant-top  type ; 
but,  although  this  was  undoubtedly  the  style  during  the  last  years  of 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  X  I  T  U  R  E 

the  seventeenth  century,  we  hardly  think  it  was  the  first  style  which 
is  spoken  of  in  the  earlier  inventories.  An  earlier  form  of  which  we 
know  is  built  much  on  the  order  of  the  six-legged  chest  of  drawers, 
with  a  little  drawer  under  the  moulding  at  the  top,  the  front  of  the 
upper  part  opening  downward  much  like  the  Empire  desks,  making 
a  place  upon  which  to  write,  and  disclosing  a  cabinet  with  drawers 
and  pigeonholes.  The  lower  part  is  a  chest  of  drawers,  and  the 
brasses  are  of  the  drop  variety.  The  feet  are  of  the  ball-foot  type. 
Several  pieces  on  this  order  are  to  be  seen  in  England,  but  we  know 
of  only  one  having  been  found  in  this  country.  From  its  general 
construction,  and  from  the  fact  that  it  more  nearly  follows  the  line  of 
the  furniture  at  that  time  in  vogue,  we  are  led  to  place  it  as  an  early 
style  of  scrutoir.  Such  a  piece  may  have  been  referred  to  in  a  Salem 
inventory  of  1666,  "  a  cabinet  desk  ami  two  chairs  ^i  5s,"  tor  such 
pieces  are  called  in  England  cabinets;  and  at  the  same  place,  in  16S4, 
"one  large  scritore  ^5";  also  in  the  inventory  of  a  storekeeper  in 
New  York  in  1692  appears  "4  \)V.  scrutore  chains  with  two  dozen 
bolts"  ;  these  chains  must  have  been  used  to  hold  the  front  which  lets 
down  to  write  upon,  and  as  all  the  slant-top  desks  are  supplied  with 
two  frames  which  pull  out  to  hold  the  front,  such  chains  were  proba- 
bly intended  for  pieces  as  above  described. 

There  are  two  other  styles  in  the  slant-top  scrutoirs  of  which 
we  know  that  may  have  been  earlier  than  the  ball- foot  variety. 
One  has  a  slant  top  which  lets  down  and  rests  on  frames  which  pull 
out ;  this  has  one  drawer  below  the  scrutoir  part,  and  the  whole  rests 
on  turned  legs  with  bracing.  The  other  style  has  a  small  slant  top 
which  lifts  like  a  desk-box,  while  the  front,  which  is  perpendicular, 
falls  outward,  being  held  in  a  position  for  writing  by  two  pulls.  It 
has  one  drawer  below  the  scrutoir  part,  and  the  whole  upper  part 
just  described  rests  on  the  lower  part  inside  a  heavy  moulding,  as  in 
the  six-legged  chests  of  drawers.  The  legs  are  turned  and  six  in 
number,  and    are    fastened    to    this    moulding-,   and   there    are   three 

254 


Figure  223. 

Ball-foot  Scrutoir,  about  1700. 


255 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

narrow  drawers,  one  between  each  pair  of  front  legs.  The  bracings 
between  these  legs  are  turned.  Both  of  the  specimens  above  de- 
scribed are  made  of  pine,  and  seem  originally  to  have  been  painted 
red  and  black.  Neither  piece,  however,  has  the  characteristic 
mouldings  about  the  drawers.     They  are  both  in  the  Bolles  collection. 

Either  of  these  pieces  would  have  been  properly  described  in  a 
Salem  inventory  in  1684,  "one  scritoire  and  frame  ^"i  los,"  although 
the  valuation  would  have  been  high.  Both  of  these  scrutoirs  are  per- 
fectly plain,  and,  except  for  the  legs,  have  none  of  the  ear-marks  of 
seventeenth-century  pieces,  and  may  have  been  made  by  some  joiner 
to  special  order  at  a  much  later  date  ;  but  we  are  convinced,  from  a 
study  of  seventeenth-century  pieces  and  the  various  inventories  of 
that  period,  that  pieces  like  these  two  just  described  could,  and  very 
probably  did,  e.xist,  because  the  fashion  of  the  legs  in  each  of  these 
pieces  was  used  on  all  other  kinds  of  furniture  which  required  legs  at 
the  time  when  they  were  in  style,  and  we  see  no  reason  why  a  scru- 
toir  should  have  been  an  exception,  especially  as,  in  the  next  period, 
when  the  bandy  leg  was  in  style,  scrutoirs  are  found  following  that 
fashion.  We  therefore  describe  these  pieces  here,  although  unable 
fully  to  determine  whether  they  are  seventeenth-century  pieces  or 
not.  However,  for  all  practical  purposes,  the  scrutoir  represented  by 
Figure  223  is  as  early  a  type  as  a  collector  is  likely  to  find  in  this 
country. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  two  small  drawers  are  the  top  ones, 
and  the  space  between  them  and  the  bottom  of  the  scrutoir  proper  is 
taken  up  by  a  well  which  is  reached  through  the  slide  which  can  be 
seen  beneath  the  three  little  centre  drawers  on  the  inside. 

The  characteristics  of  such  scrutoirs  as  this  are  this  well,  the 
two  small  drawers,  the  drop  brasses,  the  turned  ball  feet,  and  the 
moulding  about  the  bottom.  The  well,  however,  is  not  confined  to 
such  pieces,  for  it  is  occasionally  found  in  scrutoirs  of  about  a  cen- 
tiu'v  later.     These  scrutoirs  are   found  made  of  maple,  walnut,  and 

257 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  i\M  T  U  R  E 

whitewood,  and  sometimes  with  handsome  veneered  panels  of  bird's- 
eye  maple  or  walnut  on  the  face  of  the  slant  top  and  drawers.  The 
single-arch  moulding  about  the  drawers  would  indicate  that  it  is  one 
of  the  earlier  pieces.      It  dates  probably  between  i6go  and  1710. 


Figure  224. 

Cabriole-legged  Scrutoir,  1720-40. 

(Handles  and  hinges  new.) 

Such  pieces  are  also  found  with  the  double  moulding  about  the 
drawers. 

A  style  of  scrutoir  following  directly  after  this  omits  the  well 
and  slide,  bringing  the  two  short  drawers  directly  beneath  the  scrutoir 
proper,  and  adding  an  extra  long  drawer  at  the  bottom.  The  drawers 
are  surrounded  with  the  canal-moulding  shown  in  Pigure  29,  or  are 
made  overlapping.  The  feet  are  the  simple  bracket  ones  used  next 
after  the  ball  foot,  and  the  handles  are  the  engraved  ones  fastened 
with  screw-bolts,  or  an  early  form  of  willow  brasses. 

The  next  style  of  desk,  and  perhaps  contemporaneous  with  the 
one  last  described,  adopted  the  Dutch  bandy  leg  so  popular  throughout 

258 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  was  in  effect  a  low-boy. 
with  a  slant-top  scrutoir  set  into  the  frame  in  much  the  same  way  as 
was  the  top  part  of  the  so-called  high-boy. 

The  earliest  variety  was  plain  and  of  simple  lines,  the  inside 
being  arranged  with  a  few  pigeonholes  and  drawers,  and  was  most 
often  made  of  maple  and  cherry.  They  are  not  so  scarce  as  the  ball- 
foot  desks,  but  they  are  nevertheless  considered  a  very  good  find  by 
collectors. 

One  of  the  plainest  varieties  is  shown  in  Figure  224.  It  has  but 
a  single  drawer,  and  the  hip  pieces,  which  should  form  a  continuous 
curve  from  the  leg  to  the  lower  edge  of  the  scrutoir,  are  missing, 
marring-  the  otherwise  somewhat  grraceful  effect,  and  the  lower  lines, 
being  perfectly  straight,  make  the  piece  seem  even  more  severe.  The 
scrutoir  does  not  seem  to  have  any  slides  to  support  the  flap  lid  when 
let  down,  but  has  a  slide,  such  as  is  used  in  other  pieces  for  a  candle- 
stand,  directly  in  the  centre  above  the  drawer,  which  may  have  been 
intended  to  hold  the  top  on  a  downward  slant,  as  we  can  see  no  rea- 
son for  a  candle-slide  in  such  a  place.  The  inside  is  perfecdy  plain, 
in  keeping  with  the  exterior,  and  the  brass  hinges  are,  of  course,  new, 
having  been  placed  on  the  outside  when  those  on  the  inside  were 
broken.     The  brasses  are  not  original. 

As  Figure  224  shows  this  style  of  scrutoir  in  its  simplest  form, 
so  Figure  225  illustrates  one  of  the  finest  and  most  graceful  pieces 
that  has  come  under  our  observation.  It  has  three  drawers  in  the 
low-boy  part,  with  the  rising  sun  carved  in  the  centre  drawer,  and  the 
lower  line  is  practically  the  same  as  appeared  in  the  cupboard  high- 
boy shown  in  Figure  ^3'  ^^"^  because  of  the  elaborate  interior  we 
would  date  it  somewhat  later — between  i  740  and  1 750.  The  legs  are 
in  good  proportion,  with  well-defined  shoes  at  the  bottom,  and  there 
is  a  little  column  finishing  each  corner.  In  the  lower  part  of  the 
scrutoir  proper  are  two  small  square  drawers  for  pens,  etc.,  which  on 
drawing  out  hold  the  slant  top  for  writing  purposes.     The  interior 

259 


C  O  L  O  i\  I  A  L     I-  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

contains  eighteen  drawers  set  into  a  frame  made  of  a  series  of  grace- 
ful curves,  while  the  upper  centre  drawer  has  the  carving  to  corre- 
spond with  the  lower  part. 

This  piece  is  in  almost  faultless  proportions,  and  has  a  grace  and 
charm  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  improve.  It  belongs  to  Mr. 
Walter  Hosmer. 


Figure  225. 

Cabriole-legged  Scrutoir,  1740-50. 

Mr.  Henry  \V.  Erving,  of  Hartford,  has  a  very  beautiful  example 
of  one  of  these  scrutoirs  with  a  bookcase  top,  having  a  broken-arch 
cornice  carved  in  Chippendale  fashion. 

A  litde  later  style  than  the  preceding,  and  one  which  represents 
a  type  seen  also  in  chests  of  drawers,  is  illustrated  in  Figure  226, 
belonging  to  Mr.  Meggat. 

This  scrutoir,  like  the  preceding  one,  is  set  into  a  frame,  but  in 
this  case  the  frame  is  very  low,  containing  no  drawers,  and,  except 
for  this  frame,  to  which  the  legs  are  fastened,  it  is  like  the  ordinary 

260 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

variety  of  slant-top  desks.  It  is  of  unusual  size,  being  Init  T/J^i 
inches  high,  27)^  inches  wide,  and  16  inches  deep,  and  its  diminu- 
tive proportions  make  it  extremely  graceful  and  attractive.  The  use 
of  this  low  frame  with  bandy  legs  seems  to  have  been  confined  to 
Connecticut. 

After    the    first    twenty    years    of   the   eighteenth   century    the 
marked  distinction  before    noted   in   the  prices  given   for  desks  and 


Figure  226. 

Slant-top  Scrutoir,  1740-50. 


scrutoirs  disappears,  and  thereafter  the  inventories  almost  indis- 
criminately use  the  terms  to  denote  the  same  kind  of  pieces  at  the 
same  prices.  Thus  at  Salem,  in  1734,  we  find  "one  desk  ^5  los," 
the  high  valuation  showing  that  the  old  distinction  was  no  longer 
made,  and  later  still  the  word  scrutoir  seems  to  disaj^pear  entirely,  and 
writing-pieces  of  every  sort  are  called  desks. 


261 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

It  was  also  about  this  time  that  the  word  bureau  first  came  into 
use.  The  word  is  of  French  origin.  Some  assert  that  it  comes  from 
a  word  denoting  a  writing-piece  of  any  kind,  while  others  claim  that 
the  name  was  derived  from  the  word  luirrcl,  or  bureau,  a  coarse  russet 
cloth  of  medieval  times  with  which  such  pieces  were  covered.  This 
latter  derivation  is  probably  the  correct  one,  the  first  being  a  second- 
ary meaning,  for  in  Cotgrave's  French  and  English  dictionary,  pub- 
lished in  1611,  the  following  appears:  "Bureau,  a  thick  and  course 
cloth  of  a  browne  russett  or  dark  mingles  colour ;  also  the  table  thats 
within  a  Court  of  audit  or  of  audience  (belike,  because  tis  usually 
covered  with  a  carpet  of  that  cloth)." 

The  word  is  used  by  Swift  in  its  modern  spelling  with  its  early 
meaning  in  the  following  much-quoted  stanza: 

"  For  not  a  desk  with  silver  nails 
Nor  bureau  of  expense 
Nor  standish  well  Japann'd  avails 
To  writing  of  good  sense." 

This  word  is  compounded  in  two  ways  in  the  inventories,  bureau- 
desk  and  bureau-table  or  -chamber-table.  Dr.  Lyon,  in  his  splendid 
work  on  Colonial  Furniture,  thinks  the  former  referred  to  a  scrutoir, 
while  the  latter  referred  to  a  low  chest  of  drawers,  or  bureau  in  the 
modern  sense,  and  cites  such  entries  as:  at  Boston,  in  1721,  "a  burow 
desk  £2,  10s";  in  1725,  "i  buroe  £s"  \  in  1/39.  "i  ^"ro  table"; 
and  in  1749,  "  In  the  front  chamber  i  buro  table  with  drawers  ^15  " 
—  all  of  these  valuations,  of  course,  being  in  inflated  currency. 

This   distinction  hardly   seems   to    us   probable,    because  a  low 

chest  of  drawers  could  have  been  properly  described  by  calling  it  by 

that  name,  as  had  been   the   custom   in    the   inventories  of  the  oak 

period,  and  as  was  still  occasionally  done  in  this ;  and,  furthermore, 

the  word  table  could  hardlj-  be  applied  to  such  a  piece. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  when  the  expression  first  appeared 

262 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

it  referred  to  some  new  style  in  furniture,  and  we  believe,  from  a 
study  of  old  dictionaries,  as  well  as  the  inventories  and  the  pieces 
still  extant  belonging  to  those  times,  that  the  word  was  always  used 
in  connection  with  writing  in  some  way. 

The  word  bureau  appears  to  have  had  two  meanings,  either  ,a 
piece  on  which  to  write,  or  a  chest  of  drawers  of  some  sort.  In  the 
expression  "bureau-desk"  the  word  seems  to  have  been  used  in  its 
second  meaning,  otherwise  it  would  not  be  a  qualifying  word  and 
would  be  redundant.  The  furniture  best  answering  this  description 
would  be  the  slant-top  desks  with  the  chest  of  drawers  below,  which 
was  a  new  style.  The  other  expression,  "  bureau-table"  or  "  bureau- 
chamber-table,"  would  seem  to  use  the  word  in  its  first  sense.  The 
expressions  "table"  and  "chamber-table,"  as  used  in  the  inventories 
we  have  seen,  refer  to  what  are  commonly  called  low-boys  ;  so  if  the 
word  bureau  was  there  used  to  denote  a  piece  to  write  upon,  we 
would  have  a  low-boy  plus  a  desk,  such  pieces  as  are  shown  in  Fig- 
ures 224  and  225  ;  and  as  such  pieces  came  into  existence  at  about 
the  time  this  expression  first  appears  in  the  inventories,  we  believe 
them  to  have  been  there  described. 

The  word  bureau  does  not  seem  to  have  been  used  to  any  ex- 
tent in  its  modern  meaning  until  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  we  believe  it  was  then  so  called  because  of  the  desk 
appearing  in  the  upper  drawer  of  such  pieces ;  the  desk-drawer  later 
was  dropped,  but  the  name  remained. 

Chippendale  shows  designs  for  ladies'  secretaries,  which  he  calls 
bureaus;  and  he,  Hepplewhite,  and  Sheraton  call  chests  of  drawers 
commodes,  so  it  is  hardly  likely  that  the  word  bureau  could  at  that 
time  have  been  very  commonly  used  to  denote  a  simple  chest  of 
drawers.  The  word  secretaire  is  the  same  word  as  secretarj',  a 
corruption  of  escritoir. 

It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  after  about  the  first  twenty  years  of 

the  eighteenth  century  there  were  four  words  used  interchangeably  to 

263 


COLONIr\L     FURNITURE 

denote  a  piece  of  furniture  for  writing  purposes,  viz.:  desk,  scrutoir, 
escritoir,  and  bureau. 

Scrutoirs,  with  bookcase  or  cabinet  tops,  became  popular  early 
in  the  eighteentli  century.  They  were  usually  with  panelled  wood 
doors,  although  occasionally  throughout  the  inventories  they  are  men- 
tioned with  glass  doors,  and  sometimes  with  looking-glass  doors. 
The  tops  of  the  earliest  pieces  were  square ;  later,  as  the  broken  arch 
came  into  fashion,  that  style  was  almost  exclusively  used. 

Figure  227  illustrates  the  oldest  scrutoir  with  a  top  which  we 
have  found.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  lower  part  has  all  the  character- 
istics of  the  ball-foot  low  scrutoir  shown  in  Figure  223:  the  well 
above  the  two  short  drawers,  the  slide  inside,  and  the  mouldinsf  about 
the  drawers,  which  in  this  piece  is  of  the  double  variety.  The  turned 
feet  are  different  from  those  usually  found,  but  we  are  unable  to  dis- 
cover that  they  are  new.  At  any  rate,  the  overhanging  moulding  at 
the  bottom  shows  that  it  must  have  had  ball  feet  of  some  kind. 

It  originally  had  brass  drop  handles,  and  an  unusual  feature  is 
the  moulding  extending  around  the  front  and  sides  as  in  the  low-boy 
scrutoirs,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  separate  the  chest  of  drawers  from 
the  scrutoir. 

It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  we  could  be  persuaded  that  the 

top  was  not  a  later  addition  ;  but  after  a  careful  examination  we  are 

convinced  that  it  is  genuine,  because  it  is  perfectly  consistent.     The 

scrutoir  is  finished  throughout  in  walnut.      The  large  drawers  have 

walnut  fronts,  with  sides,  backs,  and  bottoms  of  English  oak,  and  the 

small  drawers    are  entirely  of  English  oak,   as   are   the    pigeonhole 

compartments.     The  moulding  about  the  centre  pigeonholes  is  of  the 

double  variety,  as  in   the  lower  part,  and  the  upper  part  sets  into  a 

wide  moulding,  which  shows  no  sign  of  ever  having  been  tampered 

with.     The  cornice  is  characteristic  also  of  the  early  high-top  pieces  ; 

candle-slides  may  be  seen  just  beneath  the  doors. 

This  scrutoir  is  at  the  Philadelphia  Library,  and  is  said  to  have 

264 


o 


Figure  227. 

Cabinet-top  Ball-foot  Scrutoir,  about  1 700. 


265 


DESKS     AND     S  C  R  U  T  O  I  R  S 

belonged  to  William  Penn,  and  it  is  of  a  style  which  lends  color  to  the 
tradition,  for  it  could  date  as  early  as  1700.  It  is  undoubtedly  of 
English  manufacture,  which  may  help  to  settle  a  much-disputed  point 
as  to  whether  scrutoirs  of  the  ball-foot  style  were  known  in  England. 


Figure  228. 
Cabinet-top  Scrutoir,  1740-50. 


This  illustration  shows  the  piece  in  its  original  condition  before  it 
had  been  incorrectly  restored  by  adding  a  broken  arch  at  the  top  and 
modern  copies  of  the  etched  brasses  of  the  Second  Period.  It  is  alto- 
gether an  extremely  interesting  piece,  and  if  our  conclusion  be  true 

267 


COLONIAL     I-  U  R  X  I  T  U  R  E 

as  to  its  genuineness,  it  places  the  high-top  scrutoirs  earlier  than  it 
has  been  customary  to  place  them. 

Fieure  228  shows  a  scrutoir  with  wooden  doors,  which  is  at  the 
Essex  House,  Salem,  and  is  said  to  have  been  made  in  i  744.  The 
eagle  at  the  centre  of  the  top  we  would  assign  to  a  later  date.  It  will 
be   noted  that   just  above  the  scrutoir  part  are  two  slides  for  holding 


Figure  229. 
Slant-top  Scrutoir,  about  1750. 


candlesticks,  and  the  upper  part  of  the  piece  is  divided  into  pigeonholes, 
with  three  narrow  drawers  at  the  bottom.  The  feet  are  of  the  Dutch 
bandy-legged  type,  but  are  fastened  to  the  scrutoir,  and  not  to  the 
frame,  as  in  Figure  226.  The  handles  are  not  original,  the  piece 
doubtless  originally  having  had  willow  brasses.  The  mouldings  about 
the  drawers  are  unusual,  much  like  those  which  were  on  the  oak- 
panelled  pieces. 

It   is  probable  that  the  doors  of  the  bookcase  tops  were  those 

268 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

finished  with  glass,  while  the  solid  wood  doors  were  intended  to  hide 
pigeonholes.  We  find  at  Boston,  in  1756,  "a*  mahogany  desk  and 
book  case  /^26  13s";  and  in  an  advertisement  of  an  auction  in  the 
Boston  "Evening  Post,"  in  July,  1751,  "a  very  handsome  mahogany 
desk  and  bookcase  with  looking  glass  doors." 

Figure  229  is  an  e.xample  of  the  style  of  desk  common   in  the 
second  quarter  of  the  eighteenth   century,  having  the  ogee  bracket 


Figure  230. 
Slant-top  Scrutoir,  17C0-80. 


feet,  with  a  fan-carving  on  the  middle  of  the  lower  front  and  on  three 
of  the  little  drawers  inside. 

In  nearly  all  of  the  scrutoirs  the  maker  exercised  great  ingenuity 
in  contriving  all  sorts  of  secret  drawers  and  receptacles  in  which 
deeds,  wills,  and  other  valuable  papers  could  be  safely  kept.  These 
secret  places  were  sometimes  arranged  back  of  the  centre  compart- 
ment. The  whole  centre  would  draw  out  on  being  released  by  pres- 
sure on  a  hidden  spring,  which  was  sometimes  concealed  above  a 
little  drawer  at  the  top,  which  must  first  be  removed ;  sometimes  the 
spring  would  be  concealed  at  the  bottom  or  on  a  side,  always  ingeni- 

269 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

ously  hidden  from  die  uninitiated.  This  centre  being  drawn  out  dis- 
closed either  a  series  of  small  shallow  drawers,  a  shelf,  or  two  narrow 
upright  drawers  on  either  side  of  the  centre.     This  is  the  commonest 


Slant-top  Scrutoir,  1760-80. 


place  to  find  secret  compartments,  but  if  they  are  not  there,  a  narrow 
shelf  may  be  found  between  the  long  top  drawer  and  the  bottom  of 
the  scrutoir  part  to  which  an  entrance  can  be  obtained  by  means  of  a 
sliding  panel  in  the  bottom  of  the  scrutoir  part,  sometimes  securely 
fastened  by  a  spring  hidden  in  various  ways.  Again,  there  is  occa- 
sionally a  hollow  place  at  the  back  of  the  slides  which  holds  the  lid. 
The  writer  knows  of  a  scrutoir  with  a  secret  place  thus  arranged,  in 
which  a  will  was  found  by  accident,  securely  hidden. 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

Figure  230  illustrates  a  scrutoir  with  an  unusually  beautiful 
interior  built  on  a  series  of  curves,  and  decorated  in  designs  appar- 
ently burned  into  the  wood.  It  was  found  in  central  Pennsylvania. 
On  opening  the  door  in   the  centre   a  set  of  drawers  appears,  and 


Figure  232. 
Block-front  Cabinet-top  Scrutoir,  1760-80. 

under  the  bottom  of  these  drawers  is  a  spring  which,  on  being  pressed, 
releases  the  wdiole  centre  and  discloses  a  secret  compartment  back  of 
the  two  carved  columns. 

A  type  of  scrutoir  of  which  there  are  many  e.xamples,  differing 
slightly  in  size  and  shape  of  drawers,  interior  arrangement,  style  of 
foot  and  handles,  is  shown  in  Figure  231.  Mahogany,  maple,  and 
cherry  are  the  common  woods,  all  three  sometimes  being  used  in  one 
piece.     They  date  anywhere  from  1750  to  1780. 

Figure  232  is  a  block-front  high-top  scrutoir,  made  of  mahog- 
any throughout,   having  the  ogee  bracket  feet.     The  arrangement 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

of  the  interior  is  worth  noting-  as  being  particularly  handsome.  The 
brass  handles  are  missing,  but  they  were  undoubtedly  on  the  order  of 
the  willow  brasses  appearing  in  the  next   illustration.     The  casters 


Figure  235. 

Block-front  Slant-top  Scrutoir,  1770-So. 

we  should  at  once  pronounce  to  be  recent  additions,  although  a  set 
of  casters  is  mentioned  in  a  New  York  inventory  in  1710. 

A  cabinet-top  block-front  scrutoir,  which  represents  the  finest 
work  of  the  period  to  which  it  belongs,  appears,  both  open  and  closed, 
in  Figures  233  and  234.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  blocking  ex- 
tends not  only  on  the  lower  part,  but  also  on  the  slant  lid  and  top 
section,  and  is  finished  in  a  carved  shell,  the  centre  ones  depressed 
and  the  outer  ones  raised  ;  the  feet  are  well-proportioned  ogee  feet, 
also  showing  the  blocking.  The  doors  of  the  cabinet  part  open  in 
three  sections,  as  will  be  seen  from  Figure  234,  and  the  pigeonholes 


I   yi^i\j^iii 


BLOCK-FRONT   CABINET-TOP   SCRUTOIR,   1-70-S0. 


Figure  234. 
Block-front  Cabinet-top  Scrutoir,  1770-80. 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

now  showing  were  originally  fitted  with  narrow  shelves  for  filing 
papers.  The  broken-arch  cornice  and  the  pillar  finish  along  the 
edo-es  of  the  upper  portion  show  the  scrutoir  to  date  in  the  last 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


Figure  236. 

Serpentine-front  Slant-top  Scrutoir,  1760-80. 

A  peculiarity  not  often  seen  on  block-front  pieces  is  that  the 
drawers  are  overlapping  instead  of  being  finished  with  the  narrow 
moulding  about  the  drawers,  as  is  usual.  (See  Figure  235.)  The 
top  part  is  made  to  lift  from  the  scrutoir  part,  and  brass  handles  are 
fastened  on  each  end  to  facilitate  moving.  The  piece  is,  of  course, 
made  of  mahogany. 

This  scrutoir,  with  three  others,  was  made,  presumably  by  a 
cabinet-maker  at  Newport,  for  four  brothers,  John,  Joseph,  Nicholas, 
and  Moses  Brown,  and  is  now  owned  b)'  the  banking  firm  of  Rrown 
&  Ives,  of  Providence,  who  are  successors  in  business  to  the  original 
owners. 

275 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figure  235  illustrates  a  very  good  example  of  a  low  block-front 
scrutoir,  belonging  to  Mr.  Albert  H.  Pitkin,  of  Hartford.  The 
brasses  are  the  original,  and  the  four  ball-and-claw  feet  are  in  good 
proportion.     Such  pieces  as  these  last  described  represent  the  most 


Figure  237. 

Fire-screen  Scrutoir,  1780-90. 

expensive  style  of  scrutoir  that  was  made,  the  block-front  being  cut 
from  a  solid  piece  of  wood  necessarily  of  great  thickness.  The 
mouldings  on  these  pieces  are  usually  carved  out  of  the  frame  and 
not  on  the  drawers.  They  date  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Figure  236  shows  a  serpentine-front  scrutoir  with  ball-and-claw 
feet,  belonsfincr  to  Mr.  Mecrorat.  The  curve  is  cut  from  a  solid  block 
of  wood,  as  it  is  in  the  block-front  pieces. 

Another  style  of  scrutoir  found  occasionally  in  this  country,  but 

276 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

more  often  in  England,  is  a  fire-screen  scrutoir,  an  example  of  which 
appears  in  Figure  237,  which  is  at  the  Van  Cortlandt  Manor,  at 
Croton,  New  York.  The  front  drops,  disclosing  a  set  of  shallow 
pigeonholes.  Such  pieces  were  made  by  Shearer  and  Hepplewhite 
in  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  this  piece  is  almost 
identical  with  one  of  the  illustrations  among  Shearer's  designs,  and  is 
undoubtedly  of  English  make. 


Figure  238. 

Sheraton  Writing-table,  about  1789. 


We  now  come  to  a  very  different  type  of  desk  from  those  hitherto 
described.  Figure  238  is  a  desk  used  by  General  Washington  when 
President  of  the  United  States  in  1789,  and  is  now  in  the  Governor's 
Room  in  the  City  Hall,  New  York.  The  wood  is  mahogany,  and  the 
fluted  legs  and  rosette  trimmings  are  of  the  Sheraton  style.  The 
brass  handles  are  found  on  both  sides  and  ends,  and  there  arc  seven 
drawers  on  each  side,  while  the  brasses  at  either  end,  and  the  mould- 
ing about  imaginary  drawers,  convey  the  impression  that  the  ends  are 
also  furnished  with  drawers.  At  each  end  of  the  top  are  shelves 
for  papers. 

277 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Figure  239  is  a  Sheraton  scrutoir  beautifully  inlaid  in  satin- 
wood,  ebony,  and  box.  The  writing-board  is  hinged  at  the  centre 
and  folds  back  upon  itself.  The  upper  portion  contains  pigeonholes 
and  drawers  concealed  by  sliding  panels.     The  brasses  are  new,  but  are 


Figure  239. 

Sheraton  Scrutoir,  181  o. 


of  the  proper  design.  This  piece  was  purchased  in  1810,  and  is  now 
owned  by  Mrs.  G.  L.  Bulkley,  of  Hartford.  There  are  many  pieces 
of  this  general  style  to  be  found  in  this  country,  all  of  which  are  well 
made,  and  most  of  which  are  extremely  graceful. 

Figure  240  is  a  scrutoir  with  bookcase  top,  dating  late  in  the 

27S 


Figure  240. 
Scrutoir  with  Bookcase  Top,  about  1800. 


279 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

eighteenth  century.  The  face  of  the  wide  upper  drawer  falls  out- 
ward by  means  of  a  spring  and  quadrant,  disclosing  pigeonholes  and 
drawers. 

There    is    in    the    Pendleton    collection    at    Providence    a    very 
beautiful  low-boy  of  late  design  which  contains  a  drawer  arranged 


Figure  241. 

Empire  Desk,  about  1820. 

in  this  way,  and  throughout  the  period  from  1800  to  1S40  this 
desk-drawer  is  commonly  met  with  both  in  scrutoirs  and  chests  of 
drawers. 

A  curious  combination  of  styles  appears  in  the  scrutoir  shown 
in  Figure  241.  The  broken-arch  cornice  and  the  narrow  moulding 
on  the  drawers  are  oddly  associated  with  Empire-carved  columns  and 
glass  rosette  handles,  which   place   its    date    not  earlier   than   1820. 

2S1  ( 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

There  are  no  pigeonholes,  and  the  writing-board  is  arranged  to  fold 
back  on  itself. 

Figure    242    is    an    example  of   a    very    handsome    scrutoir    in 
Empire  style,  owned  by  Mr.  Casper  Sommerlad,  of  Brooklyn.     Al- 


Figure  242. 
Manjuetry  Empire  Scrutoir. 

though  the  piece  is  in  very  bad  condition,  yet  it  may  be  seen  from 

the  illustration  that  the  marquetry  is  of  a  high  order,  and  is  not  only 

on  the  front  but  the  sides,  and  also  on  the  inside  of  the  desk  part. 

There  is  a  raised  brass  beading  about  the  drawers,  and  a  quarter-inch 

from  the  edge  of  the  drawers  is  an  inlaid  strip  of  brass.     The  heads 

282 


DESKS     AND     SCRUTOIRS 

and  feet  at  the  two  front  corners  are  of  ormolu.  The  handles  are 
missing.  The  body  of  the  scrutoir  is  of  oak.  Pieces  of  this  general 
style,  usually  of  plain,  well-grained  mahogany,  sometimes  with  pillars 
at  the  corners,  are  fairly  often  found  in  this  country,  and  date  about 
1800-20. 


283 


I  X 
MIRRORS 

THE  date  of  mirrors  has  proved  very  puzzling  to  determine, 
for  they  seem  to  have  followed  a  fashion  of  their  own,  and 
this  so  independently  that  though  the  furniture  of  a  given 
period  may  have  an  unmistakable  style,  the  mirrors  ot  the  same  period 
do  not  follow  it  to  a  degree  that  makes  them  easily  identified  with  it. 
The  records  from  the  first  have  frequent  mention  of  looking-glasses 
and  mirrors,  but,  except  for  an  occasional  very  brief  hint,  do  not 
materially  assist  in  placing  them. 

Families  owning  mirrors  which  have  been  in  their  possession 
perhaps  for  generations  have  been  found  to  know  nothing  of  their 
date  or  history,  for  family  documents  do  not  often  mention  them,  and 
even  tradition  seems  not  to  have  attached  itself  to  them  as  to  furni- 
ture of  other  kinds. 

The  mirrors  in  use  previous  to  1 500  were  of  highly  polished 
metals,  and  not  until  the  early  years  of  the  sixteenth  centur)-  was 
glass  used  for  this  purpose.  At  this  time  Venetian  workmen  received 
state  protection  for  the  manufacture  of  glass  mirrors,  and  for  more 
than  a  century  Venice  supplied  practically  the  whole  world.  In 
England,  the  first  glass  plates  for  mirrors  were  made  in  the  year 
1673,  at  Lambeth,  and  from  this  time  were  in  general  use.  The 
records  throughout  the  colonies  for  the  first  few  years  mention  look- 
ing-glasses  valued  at    from   two   to   five    shillings.     As    these    must 

284 


M  I  R  R  O  R  S 

have  been  Venetian  ones  previous  to  1673,  and  consequently  expen- 
sive, the  inference  is  that  at  that  low  estimate  of  value  they  must 
have  been  mere  hand-glasses.  After  1680,  however,  the  records 
show  them  to  have  been  of  considerable  value,  very  much  above  most 
of  the  furniture.  Other  records  are:  at  Salem,  in  16S4,  "a  large 
looking  glass  and  brasses"  is  valued  at  £2,  5s.;  at  New  York, 
in  1689,  "a  large  looking  glass  36s,"  and  in  1696,  one  at  ^5;  at 
Boston,  in  1698,  "a  large  looking  glass,"  £2,  15s.;  at  Philadel- 
phia, in  1686,  "a  square  looking  glass  with  diamonds,"  and  in 
1687,  "an  olive  wood  diamond  cut  looking  glass";  at  New  York, 
in  1696,  "a  looking  glass  with  a  gilded  frame  and  one  with  an 
ebony  frame,"  and  in  1697,  "one  large  looking  glass  with  a  walnut 
tree  frame." 

The  descriptions  above  enumerated  cover  practically  all  the 
hints  that  the  records  give  of  the  character  of  the  mirrors  previous 
to  I  700.  As  this  was  the  period  when  the  carved  oak  furniture  was 
in  fashion,  mirrors  with  oak  frames,  ornamented  in  the  prevailing 
fashion,  would  naturally  be  looked  for.  That  they  were  thus  made 
in  England  is  undoubtedly  true,  for  specimens  of  them  with  frames 
carved  and  inlaid  with  square  blocks  in  light  and  dark  woods,  as  were 
the  cupboards  and  other  furniture  of  the  time,  are  not  very  rare. 
The  olive-wood  and  ebony  mirror-frames  were  very  common  here, 
and  must,  as  a  rule,  have  been  small  and  plain,  for  they  were  seldom 
valued  above  seven  shillings. 

English  looking-glasses  of  the  seventeenth  century  were,  some 
of  them,  made  with  frames  entirely  of  glass  ;  several  of  these  may  still 
be  seen  at  Hampton  Court  Palace.  The  "  square  looking  glass  with 
diamonds "  referred  to  at  Philadelphia  may  have  been  an  all-glass 
mirror. 

An   olive-wood   mirror   preserved   at  Whipple    House,    Ipswich, 

Massachusetts,  which  probably  dates  before  1  700  and  is  one  of  a  very 

few  which  have  survived,   is  shown   in   Figure   243.      The  frame  is 

285 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

inlaid  in  scroll  design  with  light  and  dark  woods,  and  the  glass  is  the 
original  hand-bevelled  one. 

At  Boston,  in  1703,  a  looking-glass  and  frame  with  flowers  and 
a  pair  of  sconces  are  mentioned,  and  the  Boston  "  News  Letter"  for 


[■  iguru  24J. 

Inlaid  Olive-wood  Mirror,  seventeenth  century. 

August  10,  1 719,  advertises  "looking  glasses  of  divers  sorts  and 
sizes,  lately  imported  from  London,  to  be  sold  at  the  glass  shop, 
Queen  Street."  At  Philadelphia,  in  1720,  a  black-framed  looking- 
glass  is  valued  at  £1  5s.,  and  a  large  looking-glass  at  Salem,  in 
1 734,  is  placed  at  ^,'6  —  the  latter  in  the  paper  currency  of  that  time, 
which  was  worth  in  silver  about  one  third  its  face  value. 

Figure  244  shows  a  mirror  dating  between  i  720  and  i  740.  The 
eeneral  outline  of  the  frame  of  this  mirror  is  almost  identical  with 
designs  for  mantelpieces  published  by  two  English  architects,  William 
Jones  and  James  Gibbs  —  Gibbs  in  1728,  and  Jones  in  1739.  The 
broken-arch  cornice,  we  have  seen,  was  very  popular  by   1730,  and 

was  extensively  used  on    mirrors  of  the   Queen  Anne  period.     The 

286 


MIRROR  S 


urn  which  finishes  the  pediment  in  this  mirror  is  of  great  assistance 
in  placing  the  date,  for  it  is  one  of  the  styles  of  urns  used  between 
1 700  and    1 740,  and  quite  different  from  that  used  by  Chippendale 

and   his   contemporaries.     The    cover  to   this 


urn   IS  missmg. 


This  distinction  between  the  urns  of  differ- 
ent periods  is  important,  not  only  in  determin- 
ing the  date  of  mirrors,  but  also  the  date  of 
any  piece  of  furniture  on  which  the  urn  is  used. 
Figure  245  shows  a  drawing  of  two  urns.  The 
first  is  taken  from  the  face  of  the  clock  shown 
in  Figure  274,  which  was  made  by  Loundes, 
and  dates  prior  to  1 720.  This  and  the  urn 
shown  on  the  mirror  in  Figure  244  are  typical 
of  the  Queen  Anne  period.  The  second  urn 
shown  in  Figure  245  is  Chippendale.  This 
egg-shaped  urn 
is  the  only  one 
used  by  Chip- 
pendale, and  as 
it  is  of  unusual 
design  is  easily  recognizable.  The 
urns  on  Figures  250  and  252  are  those 
popular  in  the  time  of  Shearer  and 
Hepplewhite,  1775-90,  and  differ  quite  materially  from  the  Queen 
Anne  urns.  There  is  no  drapery,  and  the  urns  are  usually  either 
laterally  or  longitudinally  elongated. 

Figure  246  shows  another  mirror  of  similar  style  and  date,  but, 
very  unfortunately,  the  centre  ornament  is  missing.  The  frame  is 
walnut,  and  the  gilded  leaves  and  flowers  which  ornament  the  sides 
are  carved  from  the  wood,  another  indication   of  an   early  date,  for 

later  mirrors  in   much   the   same    style  were   made  which   have   the 

2S7 


Figure  244. 

Walnut  and  Gilt  Mirror, 
1720-40. 


Figure  245. 
Queen  Anne  and  Chippendale  Urns. 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

Avreath  made  of  wire  and  plaster.  Both  of  the  above  mirrors  have 
the  old  hand-bevelled  glass  which  was  used  for  all  mirrors  at  the  time 
these  were  made. 

Figure  244  belongs  to  Mrs.  John   R.  Matthews,  of  Croton,  and 
Figure  246  is  at  the  \"an  Cortlandt  manor-house,  Croton-on- Hudson. 


Figure  246. 

Walnut  and  Gilt  Mirror,  1720-40. 
(Centre  ornament  missing.) 


Figure  247. 

Wood  and  Gilt  Mirror,  about  1730. 
(Some  parts  missing.) 


Figure  247  shows  a  mirror  which  belongs  to  Miss  Esther  Bid- 
well,  some  parts  of  which  are  missing,  the  pierced  woodwork 
which  should  finish  the  top  at  the  sides  having  been  lost.  This 
mirror  was  purchased  about  i  730,  and  has  always  hung  in  the  same 
house.  The  glass  is  bevelled,  and  the  leaf  ornament  and  a  narrow 
carved  border  just  inside  the  moulding  are  gilded.      Mirrors  similar 

2SS 


MIRRORS 


to  this,  having  a  square  glass  and  an  eagle  at  the  top,  will  be  spoken 
of  later. 

A  mirror  similar  to  the  three  already  described,  and  also  dating 
before  1750,  is  shown  in  Figure  248.  This  is  beautifully  carved  and 
elided  all  over.  The  glass  is  new,  and  the 
shape  of  the  moulding  into  which  it  is  set, 
as  in  the  mirrors  just  mentioned,  is  charac- 
teristic of  the  Queen  Anne  mirrors,  as  is  also 
the  glass  in  two  parts,  joined  by  simply  lap- 
ping the  sections  without  the  moulding, 
which  was  used  later.  Some  English  mir- 
rors were  made  with  a  narrow  band  of 
metal  or  elass  to  finish  this  seam. 

The  chief  characteristics  therefore  to  be 
noted  in  mirrors  dating  between  1700  and 
1750  are  the  mirror  in  two  sections  joined 
by  simply  lapping  the  glass,  the  waiving 
outline  of  the  mirror  in  the  upper  section, 
the  ornaments  of  wood  instead  of  plaster 
and  wire,  and  the  style  of  urn.  All  of  these 
characteristics  do  not  of  course  appear  in 
every  specimen,  but  so  far  as  we  have  been 
able  to  observe,  the  waiving  outline  of  the 
mirror  in  the  upper  section  is  always  present.  Figure  244  combines 
all  of  these  characteristics. 

The  middle  of  the  century  brings  us  to  a  time  when  the  design- 
ing of  mirror-frames  was  given  a  prominent  place  by  English  archi- 
tects. H.  Copeland  published  a  series  of  plates  for  them  in  1746. 
Lock's  "  New  Book  of  pier  and  frames,  ovals,  girandoles  and  tables" 
was  published  in  1752,  and  Chippendale's  "Director"  contains  de- 
signs for  mirror-frames.  All  of  these  designs  are,  in  general,  French 
rococo  (a  word  made  up  of  two    French  words,  rocaillc  and  coquilk, 

2S9 


Figure  248. 

Carved  and  Gilt  Mirror, 
1730-5°- 

(Glass  new.) 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

rock  and  shell)  in  style.  The  frames  were  in  shape  wide  and  nar- 
row ovals,  square  and  oblony,  and  carved  in  lacelike  and  airy  designs 
not  calculated  to  make  them  very  lasting. 


Figure  249. 

Carved  and  Gilt  Mirror,  1750-60. 


Figure  250. 
Filigree  Gilt  Mirror,  1770-80. 


A  very  fine  mirror  in  decided  classical  design,  which  belongs  to 
Miss  E.  A.  Brown,  of  Salem,  is  shown  in  Figure  249.  It  is  carved, 
and  without  wire  or  plaster.      Its  date  is  about  i  750-60. 

A  mirror  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Albert  H.  Pitkin   is  shown  in 

290 


M  I  R  R  O  R  S 

Figure  250,  which  is  a  good  example  of  the  handsome  mirror  fashion- 
able from  I  770  to  I  780,  and  even  later.     The  wreath  at  the  sides  will  be 


Figure  251. 

Mahogany  Inlaid  and  Gilt  Filigree  Mirror,  1770-80. 

seen  to  be  practically  the  same  as  that  used  in  the  following  illustra- 
tion, and,  like  that,  is  reinforced  with  wire. 

2yl 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


A  mirror  belonging  to  Mr.  Meggat  is  shown  in  F'igure  251, 
which  at  first  sight  would  be  at  once  pronounced  Queen  Anne,  and 
dated  before  1750;  but,  in  spite  of  the  general  effect,  there  are 
points  about  it  which  must  make  it  later.     The  glass  is  square,  the 

wreath  at  the  sides  and  the  flowers  at  the 
top  are  reinforced  with  wire,  and  there  is 
a  narrow  band  of  inla\-  in  white  holly  about 
the  opening,  and  an  urn  inlaid  in  colored 
woods  at  the  top  —  features  Avhich  make  it 
pretty  certain  that  it  dates  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  I  775. 

I""rom  I  780  to  the  end  of  the  century 
Hepplewhite  mirrors,  with  his  favorite 
shield-  and  oval-shaped  openings,  were 
very  popular.  They  seem  to  have  been 
made  mostly  in  small  sizes,  and  being  very 
fragile,  are  seldom  to  be  found  with  all  their 
orisfinal  ornaments. 

Figure  252  illustrates  one  of  these  mir- 
rors, which  might  have  been  made  by  Hep- 
plewhite himself  but  which  shows  that 
other  makers  used  his  designs,  for  it  has 
the  following  neatl)-  printed  and  pasted  on 
the  back:  "Looking  glasses  and  all  sorts 
of  frames  with  carviny  and  orildino-  bv 
George  Cooper  real  manufacturer  82  Lombard  Street  London." 
The  narrowest  parts  of  this  frame  are  reinforced  with  wire,  as  it 
would  be  impossible  to  carve  wood  in  so  slender  a  design.  This 
mirror  belongs  to  Mrs.  E.  B.  Watkinson,  of  Hartford.  Mirrors  of 
this  kind  were  usually  in  pairs,  and  the  mate  to  this  one  is  still  pre- 
served.    The  Boston  "Gazette"  in  1780  advertises  "Pairs  of  looking 

glasses";   and  the  New  York  "Gazette  and  Mercury"  in  the  same 

292 


Figure  252. 
Hepplewhite  Mirror,  1780-90. 


Figure  253. 
Carved  and  Gilt  Girandole,  about  1780. 


293 


MIRRORS 


The  bold 


year  contains  the  following  advertisement  of  Duncan  Barclay  &  Co., 
516  Hanover  Square:  "Large  pier  and  looking  glasses  oval  sconces 
and  .girandoles." 

A  girandole  belonging  to  a  very  fine  pair  owned  by  Mrs.  Charles 
Clarence  Torr,  of  Philadelphia,  is  shown  in  Figure  253 
carving  suggests  Chippendale,  but  the  row 
of  balls  around  the  frame  places  it  after  his 
time  and  as  late  as  i  780.  A  great  many 
very  fine  girandoles  were  owned  both  in 
the  North  and  South,  particularly  after 
the  Revolution  ;  one  variety,  which  is  fre- 
quently seen,  has  the  round  frame,  sur- 
mounted by  an  eagle  with  wide-spread 
wings. 

A  mirror  of  quite  different  style  from 
any  of  the  preceding  is  shown  in  Figure 
254.  This  was  imported  for  the  Nichols 
house  at  Salem  when  it  was  built  in  1  ■jS^. 
The  architect  for  this  house  was  the  fa- 
mous Maclntire,  and  some  of  the  beautiful 
woodwork  of  the  mantelpiece  is  shown  in 

the  illustration.  The  earliest  mirrors  with  straight  tops,  and  bordered 
or  divided  with  pillars,  have  the  pillars  narrow  and  fluted,  decorated 
with  wreaths ;  the  upper  sections  are  not  painted,  but  have  carved 
designs  applied  on  the  glass,  which  appears  to  be  enamelled,  usually 
white.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  mirrors  in  the  style  of  the 
above  were  not  used  until  about  the  year  1800,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  this  one  was  made  for  this  place  at  the  date  above  given. 

A  small  mirror  in  this  style,  owned  l:)y  the  Hon.  John  R.  Buck, 
of  Hartford,  is  shown  in  Figure  255.  The  upper  section  of  this  is 
painted,  which  shows  it  to  date  somewhat  later  than  the  preceding 
mirror. 

29s 


Figure  255. 

Gilt  and  Painted  Mirror, 
about  1800. 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

After  the  Revolution,  and  about  the  time  the  eagle  was  adopted 
as  a  national  emblem,  this  device  appeared  in  decoration  of  all  kinds. 
Large  numbers  of  mirrors  similar  to  Figure  256,  in  all  sizes,  were 


iguic 


Mahogany  and  Gilt  Constitution 
Mirror,  1780-90. 


Figure  257. 
Constitution  Mirror,  1810-15. 


made  and  sold  throughout  the  country,  and  bore  the  name  of  Con- 
stitution mirrors ;  most  of  them  had  the  eagle  in  gold  at  the  top, 
either  in  plaster  or  carved  from  the  wood.  The  handsomest  form  ot 
Constitution  mirror  is  shown  in  Figure  256,  which  belongs  to  the  Hon. 
John  R.  Buck,  of  Hartford.  The  glass  rosettes  shown  with  this  mirror 
were  popular  about  1820-30,  while  the  mirror  dates  about  1780-90. 
Another  form  of  Constitution  mirror,  which  was  made  in  all  sizes, 
and  continued  to  be  made  after  1800,  is  shown  in  Figure  257,  which 
bears  the  advertisement  of  its  maker,   Bartholomew  Plain,  Chatham 

Street,  New  York,  whose  name  first  appears  in  the  directory  at  that 

296 


MANTEL   AND    MIRROR,  1783. 
(Figure  2J4. ) 


I 


MIRRORS 

address  in  1805,  and  who  continued  to  work  there  as  late  as  1816. 
The  small  gold  eagle  which  was  originally  at  the  centre  of  the  top  is 
missing,  and  is  only  suggested  by  the  shape  into  which  the  wood  is  cut. 
The  eagle,  in  mirrors  of  this  kind,  was  made  of  plaster  and  applied. 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  the  lines  of  the  Queen  Anne  mir- 
rors, shown  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  should  have  been  so 
closely  reproduced  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  year  1800,  when  furni- 
ture of  other  kinds  did  not  at  all  follow  the  Queen  Anne  patterns  ;  but 
the  fact  remains  that  the  mirrors  of  i  730  and  of  1 800  were,  e.xcept  for 
characteristics  previously  pointed  out,  very  similar,  and  are  often  mis- 
taken for  each  other. 

B)-  far  the  largest  number  of  mirrors  bearing  the  title  of  antique 
are  those  in  the  Empire  style,  made  between  the  years  18 10  and 
1840.  The  rope-carved  pillars,  the  acanthus-leaf  carving,  and  the 
lyre  carved  and  applied,  that  we  have  seen  to  be  characteristic  of 
Empire  turniture  in  general,  are  consistently  reproduced  in  the  mirrors 
of  that  time,  making  them  very  easily  identified.  They  were  made 
in  many  sizes,  both  in  mahogany  and  gilt,  and  with  and  without  the 
drop  or  acorn  ornaments  pendent  from  the  cornice.  The  latest  of 
these  have  the  part  above  the  dividing  moulding  painted  in  land- 
scapes, scenes  from  the  War  of  181 2  quite  frequentl)-,  or  other  designs, 
and  the  frame  also  was  sometimes  of  soft  wood,  painted.  The  rosettes 
which  ornament  the  corners  were  sometimes  wood  and  sometimes 
brass. 

Figure  258  shows  an  Empire  mirror  of  mahogany,  with  the  lyre 

carved  in  a  light  wood  and  applied  ;   the  mirror  throughout  is  well 

proportioned  and  the  work  good.     The  little  mirror  shown  beside  it 

is  as  old  as  the  larger  one,  and  was  made,  probably,  for  a  toy.      It  is 

complete,  even  to  the  litde  drops,   and  measures  only  10  inches  in 

height  by  5  s^    inches  in  width.      Furniture  of  almost  every  variety 

was  made  in  miniature,  the  writer  having  seen  genuine  e.xamples  of 

chests,  chairs,  tables,  high-boys,  desks  with  bookcase  tops,  bureaus, 

297 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

and  sideboards,  all  made  with  every  proper  detail,  probably  for  chil- 
dren's toys,  for  we  find  toy  furniture  advertised  for  sale  in  New  York 
between  i  760  and  1770. 

Figure    259   shows    a   gilt    mirror    of  a  very  common    pattern, 
although  the  details  in   rosettes  and  the  turning  of  the  columns   are 


Figure  25S.  Figure  259. 

Carved  Mahogany  Empire  Mirrors,  1810-20.        Gilt  Empire  Mirror,  1810-20. 

often  varied.     The  rosettes  belongfing  at  the  two  lower  corners  are 

missinof.      The    last   three   mirrors  belong   to    the   writer,  and   date 

about  1820. 

A   very  handsome  mantel  mirror,  belonging  to   Mr.  Albert  H. 

Pitkin,  of  Hartford,  is  shown  in   Figure   260.     The   turning  of  the 

columns  is  very  much  the  same  as  that  in  the  preceding  figure,  and 

its  date  is  about  the  same. 

It  was  the  custom  all  through  the  eighteenth  century  to  support 

298 


MIRRORS 

the  mirrors  on  a  pair  of  small  rosettes,  thus  making  the  mirror  tilt 
forward.  These  rosettes  were  of  various  kinds,  usually  of  brass,  and 
are  frequently  mentioned  with  the  mirror  in  the  inventories. 


I'igui'u  260. 

Gilt  Mantel  Mirror,  Empire  Style,  1810-20. 


Eight  examples  of  these  rosettes  are  shown  in  Figure  261. 
The  first  six  are  enamel  bound  in  brass,  and  date  about  Revolution- 
ary times.      The  seventh   is  of  brass  with   an   urn   in   openwork,  and 


Figure  26 1. 

Enamel  and  Brass  Mirror  Rosettes. 


the  last  is  a  brass  bust  of  George  III,  which  must  date  prior  to  the 
Revolution.  In  the  Empire  period  many  of  these  rosettes  were  made, 
both  in  this  small  size  for  mirrors  and  in  a  lartrer  size  for  window- 


curtams. 


299 


X 

BEDSTEADS 

THERE  is,  perhaps,  no  branch  of  the  subject  of  furniture  more 
difficult  to  approach  than  that  of  bedsteads,  and  this  not 
because  they  were  by  any  means  scarce,  but  because  the 
bedsteads  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  this  country  have  utterly 
disappeared,  and  the  inventories  give  such  meagre  descriptions  that 
almost  the  only  clews  are  the  valuations  there  given,  and  a  study  of 
the  English  bedstead  of  the  same  period. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  distinction  between  a  bed  and  a  bedstead, 
more  marked  a  century  ago  than  to-day  —  the  bedstead  being  the 
frame  or  furniture  part,  while  the  bed  referred  to  the  mattress. 

In  England,  before  the  Norman  Conquest  (1066),  and  even  in  the 
period  immediately  following,  bedsteads  were  scarce,  reserved  for  the 
master  of  the  house  or  ladies,  there  often  being  but  one  to  a  house, 
while  the  other  members  of  the  household  lay  on  mattresses  of  straw 
laid  on  the  floor  or  on  tables,  chests,  or  benches. 

The  bedsteads  were  sometimes  built  into  the  walls  like  bunks, 
but  more  often  had  four  massive  posts,  with  top  and  sometimes  sides 
of  wood,  and  heavy  curtains,  making  a  sort  of  sleeping-chamber  in 
itself  and,  it  is  asserted,  were  sometimes  placed  out  of  doors.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  in  some  of  the  old  manuscripts  and  tapestries  we 
find  bedsteads  represented  with  tiled  roofs,  which  would  indicate  that 
they  were  exposed  to  the  weather.     At  any  rate,  when  we  consider 


BEDSTEADS 

that  the  castles  and  homes  of  that  early  day  were  without  glass 
or  other  protection  for  the  windows,  we  can  readil)*  understand  why 
that  particular  style  should  have  originated.  ♦ 

The  style,  having  been  brought  into  existence  by  necessity,  de- 
veloped along  the  same  line  toward  a  more  graceful  and  delicate 
design,  first  losing  the  sides  of  wood  but  retaining  the  high  head- 
board ;  then  in  the  early  Jacobean  period  the  high  headboard  gave 
way  to  a  lower  one  with  curtains  at  the  back,  and  with  smaller  posts; 
later  the  solid  wood  top  was  superseded  by  a  frame  designated 
merely  to  hold  a  canopy  of  various  kinds  of  cloth. 

The  bedsteads  in  use  in  England  at  the  time  this  country  was 
settled  were  made  of  oak,  often  elaborately  carved  in  designs  such 
as  are  found  on  the  oak  furniture  here.  They  were  large  and  cum- 
bersome, and  therefore  difficult  of  transportation,  and,  except  to  the 
South,  where  English  life  had  been  transported  bodily,  we  doubt 
very  much  whether  in  the  first  fifty  )ears  very  many  found  their  way 
to  this  country.  .Some,  however,  must  have  found  their  way  to  New 
England,  for  Miss  Helen  E.  Smith,  in  "  Colonial  Days  and  Ways," 
gives  a  portion  of  a  letter  sent  to  a  correspondent  in  England,  in 
1647,  by  Mrs.  Margaret  Lake,  a  sister-in-law  of  Governor  Winthrop, 
in  which  she  asks  to  have  sent  her,  among  other  things,  "  a  bedsteede 
of  carven  oake  (ye  one  in  wch  I  sleept  in  my  fathers  house)  with  ye 
valances  and  curtayns  and  tapistry  coverlid  belongyngs." 

Fiofure  262  shows  the  famous  Countess  of  Devon's  bedstead 
which  is  preserved  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  This  illustra- 
tion is  given,  not  because  we  believe  such  beautiful  bedsteads  were  in 
use  in  this  country,  but  because  it  is  a  splendid  example  of  the  general 
type  of  carved  oak  bedsteads  which  must  have  been  here,  such  as 
was  mentioned  by  Mrs.  Lake,  and  also  because  it  combines  to  an 
unusual  degree  the  patterns  of  carving  found  on  many  of  the  chests 
and  other  carved  oak  pieces  in  this  countr)-,  thus  tending  to  prove 
the  statement  heretofore  made  that  practically  all  the  early  carving 

3"' 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

on  oak  furniture  in  this  country  was  taken  from  English  models. 
Man)-  of  the  designs  shown  on  this  bedstead  are  to  be  seen  on  the 
chests  shown  in  Figures  2,  3,  and  5,  and  on  the  cupboard  shown  in 
Figure  61.  The  carving  is,  however,  of  a  much  higher  order,  and  the 
grotesque  figures  seen  on  the  bedstead  we  have  never  found  on 
American  pieces.  This  bedstead,  with  its  heavy  oak  tester  and  head- 
board, also  illustrates  the  development  of  the  bedstead  from  an 
enclosed  chamber.      It  dates  in  the  last  years  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

This  bedstead  represents  ver)'  well  the  carved  oak  bedsteads  of 
the  better  class  in  use  in  England  during  the  early  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  some  of  the  bedsteads 
inventoried  at  higfh  figures  in  the  colonial  records  were  much  like  this 
one  though  far  less  elaborate.  Thus  at  Yorktown,  Virginia,  in  the 
estate  of  a  Dr.  McKenzie,  who  died  in  1755,  are  mentioned  "  i  oak 
Marlbrough  bedstead  /8,"  and  another  of  the  same  sort  valued  at 
^6,  both  of  which  are  far  above  the  usual  valuation  of  bedsteads. 

In  New  England  records  we  find,  from  the  first,  in  nearly  every 

inventory  mention  of  feather-beds,  valued  at  from  £2  to  £;;,,  a  very 

high  valuation,  often  equal  to  that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  furniture  put 

together.      The  probable  reason  is  that  all  the  early  feather-beds  were 

brought  here  by  the  settlers,  for  it  could  be  hardly  possible  that  such 

a  quantit)-  of  feathers  as  these  beds  would  require  could  have  been 

taken  so  early  from  domestic  chickens  and  geese.      At  Plymouth,  in 

1633,  is  mentioned  "  i  flock  bed  and  old  bolster  £\  3s" — flock-beds 

being  made  of  chopped  rags;  at  .Salem,  in  1647,  "a  straw  bed,"  and 

in    1673,  "a  canvas  bed  filled  with  cattails,"  and  "a  silk  grass  bed"; 

in  1654,  "a  hair  bed";  and  at  New  York,  in  1676,  "  a  chaff  bed  ";  all 

of  which  items  are  repeatedly  met  with  throughout  the  inventories 

both  North  and  South,  showing  that  almost  any  soft  substance  was 

utilized  for  the  beds  when  feathers  were  not  obtainable.      In  many 

instances  these  beds  were  probably  placed  on  the  floor,  for  in  many 

inventories  they  are  mentioned  without  any  bedsteads  whatever. 

302 


CARVED   OAK   BEDSTEAD,   1593. 

(figure  262.) 


BEDSTEADS 

Many  of  the  earliest  bedsteads  of  which  the  records  speak  were 
doubtless  merely  frames  on  which  to  place  the  mattresses  or  beds; 
judging  from  the  valuations,  such  frames  may  be  referred  to  at 
Plymouth,  in  1633,  "i  old  bedstead  and  form  2s";  at  Yorktown,  in' 
1667,  "2  bedsteads,  2s  " ;  one  at  5s.,  and  "one  bedstead  &  buckrum 
teaster  6s";  at  New  York,  in  1669,  "2  bedsteads  i6s";  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  16S2,  "  I  bed  bolster  and  bedstead  ^i  ";  at  Providence,  in 
1670,  "two  bedsteads  £\"\  and  in  the  inventory  of  John  Sharp,  taken 
at  New  York,  in  16S0,  the  following  somewhat  minute  descriptions 
of  the  furnishings  of  the  sleeping-rooms  occur:  "  In  the  small  room,  a 
bedstead  with  a  feather  bed,  bolster,  a  couple  of  blanketts,  a  rugg 
and  an  old  pair  of  curtains  and  valins  ^5  3s";  in  the  middle  room, 
"  a  bedstead  with  a  feather  bed  and  bolster,  a  rugg,  a  blankett,  a  lit- 
tle square  table  and  a  form  ^5  5s";  in  the  great  room,  "a  bedstead 
with  a  feather  bed,  a  bolster,  2  pillows,  a  blankett,  a  rugg,  old  hang- 
ings about  the  bed  and  old  green  hangings  about  the  room  and  a 
carpett  £(i,"  while  "a  feather  bed,  bolster,  blankett  and  coverlid" 
are  inventoried  separately  as  worth  ^3  los.,  thus  intimating  that 
rather  a  small  part  of  the  total  values  can  belong  to  the  bedstead. 
We  may  also  conclude  that  these  simple  bedsteads,  whatever  they 
were,  were  furnished  with  curtains  and  valances,  which  are  mentioned 
with  them  almost  without  exception.  In  fact,  throughout  the  inven- 
tories, with  the  exception  of  those  of  a  few  of  the  wealthier  settlers, 
the  values  of  bedsteads  when  given  by  themselves  are  surprisingly 
low.  Again,  we  find  throughout  the  Philadelphia  records  the  ex- 
pression "  ordinary  bedsteads,"  and  these  placed  at  valuations  not 
exceeding  15s.,  and  more  often  below  los.;  and,  further,  the  bed- 
steads, in  a  large  majority  of  inventories  both  North  and  South,  are 
included  with  the  beds  and  furnishings,  usually  mentioned  last  as  of 
least  importance. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  find  occasional  mention   in  wills  of  bed- 
steads in  particular  rooms  left  specifically,  as  property  having  special 

303 


C  C)  L  O  N  I  A  L     F  U  R  X  I  T  U  R  E 

value,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Lake  before-mentioned,  some  at  least 
of  the  finer  sort  must  have  reached  this  country. 

At  Plymouth,  in  1639,  "A  framed  bedstead"  is  spoken  of  and 
at  Salem,  in  1647,  "  A  joyned  bedstead."  As  "  framed  "  and  "joyned" 
are  terms  used  to  describe  the  wainscot  chests  and  chairs,  the  bed- 
steads described  in  this  way  were  probably  something'  more  than  sim- 
ply frames  for  drapery.  Their  valuations  in  these  cases,  however, 
14s.  and  1 6s.,  respectiveh',  do  not  allow  us  to  think  that  they  were 
carved  or  ornamented  in  an\-  pretentious  way. 

In  1643  a  bedstead  with  tester,  and  in  the  same  year  a  half- 
headed  bedstead,  are  among  the  items.  The  word  tester  is  derived 
from  the  old  French  word  fcsticir.  a  kind  of  head-piece  or  helmet,  and 
came  to  mean  in  English  the  frame  for  holding  the  canopy  about  a 
high-post  bedstead.  A  tester  or  headed  bedstead  would  therefore 
imply  a  high  one,  while  a  half-headed  bedstead  doubtless  was  one 
without  the  tester  or  head-piece  and  with  low  posts. 

That  some  of  the  bedsteads  w'ere  built  bunk  fashion  into  the 
walls  is  implied  by  the  use  of  the  term  "  standing  bedstead,"  as 
though  to  distinguish  them  from  those  built  in  this  way. 

"  Close  bedsteads,"  "cupboard  bedsteads,"  and  "presse  bedsteads" 
are  also  mentioned,  and  must  have  been  arranged  so  that  when  not  in 
use  they  could  be  folded  into  a  cupboard  in  the  wall,  and  probably 
hidden  by  doors.  These  are  valued  somewhat  higher  than  the  kinds 
already  mentioned,  averaging  about  30s.  A  "presse  bed"  we  find 
defined  in  Johnson's  dictionary  as  "a  bed  so  constructed  that  it  may 
be  folded  and  shut  up  in  a  case." 

In  the  South  the  bedsteads  during  this  period  are  more  highly 
valued,  as  might  be  expected,  for  nearly  all  the  furniture  of  Virginia 
and  Mar\-land  was  imported  from  England,  and  was  doubtless  of  the 
carved  wainscot  variety  then  prevalent  in  that  country.  At  York- 
tt)wn,  in  1647,  is  a  record  of  "  2  old  bedsteads,"  which  would  indicate 
that  they  were  imported,  and,  in  1657,  another  of  "i  bedstead  ^3," 

304 


BEDSTEADS 

Although  many  of  the  bedsteads  of  the  South  were  imported,  yet 
we  occasionally  find  in  the  inventories  some  which  were  made  here, 
as,  for  instance,  in  1659,  "a  Virginia-made  bedstead"  is  mentioned. 

After  about  1660  the  values  of  the  bedsteads  and  furnishings  are 
much  higher,  and  those  in  the  North  and  South  became  more  nearly 
alike.  At  Boston,  in  1660,  one  is  valued  at  ^24;  at  Richmond, 
Virginia,  in  1678,  one  is  valued  at  ^^24  5s.  ;  at  Plymouth,  in  1682,  the 
"  best  bedstead  and  furnishings  "  was  ^,"9  ;  at  New  York,  in  1691,  "  bed 
and  furniture  in  the  great  room  ^24";  "one  in  the  dinning  room 
;^i8";  "one  in  the  lodging  room  ^15";  and  "four  others  ^36";  at 
Boston,  in  1696,  two  very  handsome  bedsteads  and  furnishings  were 
valued  at  £jo  and  ^100  respectively;  but,  of  course,  it  is  impossible 
to  tell  what  was  the  value  of  the  bedstead  and  what  that  of  the 
furnishings,  which  were  often  extremely  valuable. 

Such  bedsteads  as  these  might  easily  have  been  of  the  handsome 
carved  oak  kind  shown  in  Figure  262,  for  when  we  consider  the  fact  that 
the  prevailing  style  for  all  other  kinds  of  furniture  during  this  time 
was  the  wainscot  carved  or  the  panelled  style,  and  that  the  bedsteads 
in  England  during  this  time  were  of  that  same  type,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  finer  bedsteads  in  this  country  were  of  this 
same  variety. 

It  has  never  been  the  writer's  good  fortune  to  find  an  example  of 
a  bedstead  which,  with  any  certainty,  could  be  assigned  to  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  such  pieces  seem  totally  to  have  disappeared. 
There  are  probably  two  reasons  for  this.  First,  as  we  have  before 
suggested,  the  large  portion  of  bedsteads  were  simple  frames  for 
holding  drapery,  and  not  in  themselves  worth  preserving  ;  and,  second, 
in  the  South,  where  there  must  have  been  some  of  the  handsomely 
carved  oak  bedsteads,  there  seems  to  be  a  complete  dearth  of  seven- 
teenth-century pieces,  due  to  the  devastation  of  two  wars  and  the 
wealth  of  many  of  the  people  enabling  them  to  replace  the  old- 
fashioned   with    the    new,   thus    relegating    the    heavy  oak    furniture, 

305 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

which,  in  tlic  hght  of  the  radically  difterent  fashion  which  replaced 
it,  was  probabl)-  considered  very  unsightly,  to  the  cabins  of  the  slaves, 
where  it  was  broken  up  or  otherwise  destroyed. 

In  New  England,  where  practically  all  the  examples  of  sev- 
enteenth-century furniture  now  known  have  been  found,  the  less 
extravagant  habits  of  the  people  caused  them  to  be  more  conservative  ; 
but,  notwithstanding  this,  most  of  the  fine  chests,  cupboards,  etc., 
recently  unearthed  have  been  found  in  attics,  woodsheds,  or  barns, 
partly  destroyed,  and  nearly  alwaj's  painted  and  maltreated  in  every 
way.  Cupboards,  tables,  and  chairs  could  for  a  while  serve  their 
useful  purposes  in  kitchen  or  woodshed,  but  a  bedstead,  when  dis- 
carded, could  not  be  utilized  for  any  useful  purpose,  and  was,  conse- 
quently, destroyed. 

Miss  Helen  Evertson  Smith,  author  of  "  Colonial  Days  and 
Ways,"  informs  us  that  she  remembers,  many  years  ago,  going  to 
the  home  of  the  widow  of  Peter  G.  Stuyvesant,  at  the  corner  of 
Eleventh  Street  and  Second  Avenue,  New^  York  City,  and  seeing 
there  a  state  bedstead  with  elegant  hangings  which  was  said  to  have 
belonged  to  Governor  Stuyvesant,  and  on  the  third  floor  a  bedstead 
which  she  describes  as  follows : 

"  Another  bedstead,  not  so  beautiful  as  this  one,  but  more 
plentifully  (if  not  so  finely)  carved,  stood  dismantled  in  a  rear  third- 
story  room,  and  had,  apparently,  been  intended  to  fit  into  an  alcove, 
as  all  the  carving  was  on  one  side.  A  pair  of  carved  and  panelled 
doors  opened  beneath  the  high  bed-place.  The  closet  thus  formed 
may  have  been  used  for  bedding.  The  place  for  the  beds  w-as  a  sort 
of  box  deep  enough  to  have  held  three  or  four  mattresses  or  feather- 
beds,  laid,  without  the  intervention  of  anything  to  answer  the  purpose 
of  springs,  directly  upon  the  age-darkened  boards.  At  each  corner 
rose  a  carved  post  from  six  to  seven  inches  in  diameter,  as  I  now 
guess.     The   two  front  posts  were  square  as  far  as  they  formed  the 

ends  of  the  closet  beneath  the  bed,  and  round  as  they  rose  above  this 

.506 


BEDS  T  E  A  D  S 

till  they  merged  into  a  carved  cornice  of  over  a  foot  in  depth.  The  two 
rear  posts  were  halves  laid  flat  against  a  heavily  panelled  rear  wall." 
This  would  seem  to  have  been  a  handsome  cupboard-bedstead, 
but  the  writer  has  been  unable  to  locate  it  or  to  find  whether  it  is  still 
in  existence.  These  cupboard-bedsteads  we  find  frequently  mentioned 
throughout  the  inventories,  which  would  indicate  that  they  were 
popular,  probably  because,  being  built  into  an  alcove,  they  took  up  but 
litde  room;  and  this  would  also  account  for  the  fact  that  they  have  so 


Figure  263. 

Couch-bedstead,  seventeenth  century. 

entirely  disappeared,  for,  being  built  for  a  particular  room,  they  would 
have  been  of  little  use  elsewhere,  and  when  families  moved  or 
remodelled  their  houses  these  bedsteads  would  have  been  destroyed. 

Couch-bedsteads  are  mentioned  occasionally  in  the  Northern 
inventories,  and  very  frequently  in  the  South  ;  in  fact,  there  is  hardly 
a  Southern  inventory  of  any  size  during  the  first  hundred  years  which 
does  not  mention  at  least  one  couch-bedstead.  These  were,  as  their 
name  indicates,  couches  which  could  be  utilized  for  sleeping  purposes. 

The  back  and  seat  of  a  crudely  hewn  oak  couch-bedstead,  which 
belongs  to  Mr.  Charles  Morson,  of  Brooklyn,  is  shown  in  Figure  263. 
The  original  legs  and  bracing  are  missing,  and  the  light  legs   and 

307 


C  (_)  I.  O  N  I  A  L     ¥  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

stretchers  which  liave  been  su[)pliecl  are  quite  out  of  keeping  with 
the  massive  effect  of  the  back  and  arms.  The  original  lees  and 
bracing-  were  undoubtedl)-  square  and  heavy,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
wainscot  chair.      The  seat,  which   is  a  frame  over  which  heavy  canvas 


Figure  264. 
Cradle,  sixteenth  century. 

is  Stretched,  is  arranged  to  fold  one  section  on  the  other,  with  the 
legs  fitting  into  grooves,  exactly  as  in  the  modern  sota-bed. 

As  .several  cradles  dating  before  1700  have  been  found  in  this 
country,  we  will  briefly  describe  them  here  before  proceeding  further 
with  the  discussion  of  bedsteads. 

There  were  apparent!)-  two  styles  of  cradles,  one  swinging  be- 
tween uprights,  which  stood  firm  on  the  floor,  the  other  swinging  on 


BEDSTEADS 

short  rockers ;  but,  so  far  as  this  country  is  concerned,  the  former 
style,  though  antedating-  the  hitter  in  Europe,  does  not  seem  to  have 
appeared  liere  until  much  later. 

Figure  264  is  an  example  of  one  of  the  latter  style  made  of  oak, 
the  top  and  side  of  the  hood  made  with  turned  spindles,  much  after 
the  fashion  of  Elder  Brewster's  chair,  shown  in  Figure  85.  This 
turned  style  is  extremely  old,  and  we  have  found  such  pieces  illus- 


riguie  265. 
Wicker  Cradle,  early  seventeenth  century. 

trated  as  early  as  the  fifteenth  century.  This  particular  cradle  is  the 
finest  that  has  come  under  our  observation  in  this  country,  and  is 
probably  late  sixteenth  or  early  seventeenth  century.  It  is  now  at 
Pilgrim  Hall,  Plymouth,  in  a  glass  case. 

Another  cradle  at  the  same  place  is  shown  in  Figure  265.  This 
piece,  it  will  be  seen,  is  made  of  wicker,  and  tradition  says  that  it  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower  and  was  used  for  Peregrine  White.  The  fact 
that  it  is  made  of  wicker  can  easily  be  explained  Ijy  the  fact  that  the 
Pilgrims  came  from  Holland,  which  at  that  time  was  engaged  in  the 
India  trade,  and  this  piece  was  undoubtedly  of  Eastern  origin. 

309 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 

What  has  been  said  with  reference  to  definite  knowledire  of  bed- 
steads  before  1700  is  also  to  a  certain  extent  true  of  those  after  1700. 
The  bedsteads,  when  mentioned  separate  from  the  bedding  and  fur- 
nishings, rarely  exceed  a  pound  in  value,  and  this  is  probably  due  to 
the  fact  that  they  continued  to  be  perfectly  plain.  That  this  is  true 
seems  to  be  indicated  by  an  examination  of  the  well-known  bedstead 
at  Mount  X'ernon  in  which  Washington  died.  He  was  a  man  of 
ample  means,  and  his  furniture  in  general  was  of  the  best ;  yet  the 
bedstead  has  perfectly  plain  turned  posts,  and  could  easily  have  been 
valued  at  less  than  a  pound. 

We  find  at  Philadelphia,  in  1709,  "a  black  walnut  bedstead  ^i"; 
at  Providence,  in  1726,  "2  bedsteads  los,"  and  in  the  same  inventory, 
"I  bedstead  and  bedding  ^,ic>"''  ^^^^  '"  1 734'  "  H  '"'^w  bedsteads 
^14."  Occasionally  a  will  throws  a  little  light  on  the  subject,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  will  of  Thomas  Meriwether,  of  South  Farnham  Parish, 
Essex  County,  Virginia,  February  10,  1708:  "I  give  my  dear  and 
loving  wife  Susanna  mj-  best  new  bed  and  furniture  and  the  set  of 
chairs  belonging  to  it.  The  whole  sute  of  Japan."  At  Providence, 
in  an  inventory  of  i  730,  appears  "  a  feather  bed  &  pannoled  bedstead 
^10,"  which  probably  was  an  oak  bedstead  of  an  earlier  date. 

The  bedsteads  of  the  eighteenth  century,  after  the  oak  style  had 
disappeared,  were  usually  made  of  mahogany,  maple,  cherry,  or 
Virginia  walnut,  and  the  posts  were  much  more  slender  than  those 
which  belong  to  the  Empire  period.  After  i  740,  when  the  ball-and- 
claw  foot  was  used  extensively,  bedsteads  were  made  with  slender 
plain  or  fluted  posts  and  cabriole  legs,  with  the  shell  at  the  knee,  fin- 
ished with  the  ball-and-claw  on  all  four  feet,  and  sometimes  only  on 
the  lower  ones,  in  which  case  the  two  upper  ones  were  straight  and 
plain.  This  fashion,  with  little  variation,  was  favored  for  a  long 
period,  probably  until  late  in  the  century,  thus  making  it  impossible 
to  date  bedsteads  of  this  kind  definitely. 

Figure  266  shows  a  bedstead  belonging  to  Mr.  Meggat,  which 


BEDSTEADS 


Figure  266. 
Mahogany  Bedstead,  about  1750. 


3" 


COLONIAL     F  U  R  X  I  T  U  R  E 

may  have  been  of  an  earl\-  date,  as  intlicated  by  the  slender  turned 
posts.  The  tester  is  built  on  a  curve,  and  set  on  posts  much  lower 
than  those  which  support  flat-top  testers. 

The  bedposts  designed  by  Chippendale  were  tall  and  slender, 
his  favorite  desifjn  beinij  a  fluted  column  with  garlands  of  flowers  or 
ribbons  entwining  the  posts  in  raised  carving.  He  shows  no  ball- 
and-claw-foot  bedsteads  in  his  book  of  designs,  but,  as  in  the  case  of 
chairs,  he  probably  made  them.      Some  of  these  bedsteads  came  to 


Draped  Bedstead,  late  eighteenth  century. 

this  country,  but  are  now  very  difficult  to  find.  The  writer  has  heard 
of  one  which  a  collector  tells  him  he  saw  at  an  auction  in  a  country 
town  of  Connecticut  many  years  ago,  but  because  covered  with  green 
paint,  and  being  then  ignorant  of  the  possibilities  of  restoration,  he 
did  not  bid,  and  it  was  sold  for  a  song. 

Figure  267,  one  of  the  bedsteads  now  preserved  at  Mount 
Vernon,  illustrates  admirably  how  completely  the  drapery  covered 
the  frame  and  posts  of  the  bedstead,  thus  making  any  elaboration  of 


Figure  20N. 
Mahogany  Bedstead,  Ball-and-claw  Feet,  1770-80. 


313 


BEDSTEADS 


the  posts  quite  unnecessary,  and  the  elegant  appearance  of  the  bed 
was  made  to  depend  upon  the  draperies. 

Figure  26S  shows  part  of  a  very  graceful  bedstead  belonging  to 
Mrs.  Alexander  Forman,  of  Brooklyn.  The  posts,  with  their  slender 
fluting  and  carved  drapery,  forcibly  sug- 
gest posts  shown  among  Hepplewhite's 
designs ;  but  the  four  ball-and-claw  feet, 
which  are  without  doubt  original,  show  a 
variation  Hepplewhite  was  not  likely  to 
use.  The  ball-and-claw  feet  are  at  the 
end  of  straight  legs  instead  of  cabriole  legs, 
a  method  of  construction  which  can  hardly 
be  approved,  for  a  straight  leg  does  not 
harmonize  w'ith  a  ball-and-claw  foot ;  how- 
ever, in  some  of  the  most  beautiful  designs 
for  chairs  by  Ince  this  method  is  employed, 
but  conventionalized  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  a  most  pleasing  effect. 

The  heavily  carved  mahogany  bed- 
steads, ornamented  principally  in  designs 
of  acanthus-leaves  and  pineapples,  with 
both  high  and  low  posts,  came  into  use 
about  1800-20,  when  furniture  of  similar 
style   and    design  was  generally  adopted. 

There    have    been    called    to    the    writer's 

1810-20. 
notice    a    numljer  of  high-post    bedsteads 

of  this  description  which  have  associated  with  them  traditions  of  use, 

during   the   Revolution,   by   either  Washington   or   Lafayette.      This 

seems  very  improbable,  for  absolutely  no  other  furniture  in  this  style 

was  at  all  known  previous  to   1800,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 

that  bedsteads   were   radically   different   from   the   other   furniture  of 

their   time. 

31S 


Figure  269. 

Examples  of  Empire  Bedposts, 


C  O  L  O  X  I  A  L     F  U  R  N  I  T  U  R  E 

Figure  269  shows  four  posts  in  die  familiar  styles  of  the  Empire 
high  bedsteads,,  the  first  and  last  ornamented  with  acanthus-leaves 
and  pineapples,  the  second  a  slender  turned  post  similar  to  those  long 
in  use,  which  continued  to  be  used  as  long  as  high-post  bedsteads 
remained  in  fashion. 


Figure  271. 

Low-post  Bedstead,  1810-20. 


The  headboards  belonging  to  these  bedsteatls  were  often  hand- 
somely carved  with  drapery,  flowers,  fruit,  and  sometimes  with  a 
spread  eagle  ;  and  while,  as  a  rule,  no  footboard  is  used,  this  is  not 
invariably  the  case.  The  draper\-  of  beds  which  were  handsomely 
carved  was  much  lighter  than  that  previously  employed,  and  ar- 
ranged   to   display   both   the    posts   and    headboard. 

Figure  270  shows  a  portion  of  an  Empire  bedstead  found  in 
Virginia,    belonging  to   the   writer,    which    rejjresents    the    finer   betl- 

.^16 


Figure  270. 
Empire  Bedstead,  about  1810. 


317 


BEDSTEADS 

steads  of  its  kind.  The  maliogany  is  very  finely  grained,  and  the 
carving,  though  not  fine,  is  good.  The  posts  measure  7  feet  1 1  inches 
in  height  and  14  inches  in  circumference.     The  bolt-lioles  are  covered 


Figure  272. 

Low-post  Bedstead,  1820-30. 

by  carved  panels,  which  are  cleverly  held  in  place  by  means  of  wooden 
blocks  which  slide  into  grooves. 

Two  low-post  bedsteads  with  characteristic  Empire  decorations, 
which  belong  to  Mr.  Meggat,  are  shown  in  Figures  271  and  272. 
The  ball-and-claw  feet  on  Figure  271  are  probably  not  original,  as 
they  do  not  harmonize  with  the  style  in  which  the  bed  is  made.  The 
pineapple  terminals  shown  in  Figure  272  were  very  frequently  used, 

319 


COLONIAL     F  I'  R  X  I  T  I'  R  E 

and  are  sometimes   the   only  carving  employed,  the  rest  of  the  posts 
being  simply  turned. 

From  1820  to  1840  great  numbers  of  low-post  bedsteads  in  maple 
and  cherry,  with  simple  turned  posts,  and  with  a  headboard  finished 
with  a  heav\-  row  of  moulding,  were  in  use  throughout  New  England. 


Figure  273. 
French  Bedstead,  about  1S30. 

The  French  Empire  bedsteads,  with  rolling  head-  and  footboard, 
were  popular  here  about  1830,  and  remained  in  fashion  until  replaced 
by  the  black-walnut  machine-made  bedsteads.  The  handsomest  of 
these  French  bedsteads  were  ornamented  with  ormolu,  but  as  a  rule 
they  were  massive  and  plain. 

A  simple  bedstead  in  this  style,  which  belongs  to  Mr.  Casper 
Sommerlad,  of  Brooklyn,  is  shown  in  bigure  273.  The  side  rails  are 
narrower  than  usual,  and  the  feet  are  turned  instead  of  being  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  side. 


320 


XI 
CLOCKS 

WE  do  not  consider  that  clocks  technically  should  be 
classified  as  furniture,  and  still,  as  there  is  hardly  a 
collector  who  does  not  possess  at  least  one  specimen, 
we  think  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  subject,  having 
reference  more  especially  to  such  pieces  as  have  been  in  the  country 
from  colonial  times,  confining  ourselves  to  clocks  in  household 
use,  and  not  speaking  of  the  early  clocks  in  various  towers  and 
churches.  It  is  not  our  intention,  in  the  limited  space  that  can 
be  given  to  the  subject  in  a  general  book  on  colonial  furniture,  to 
state  more  than  the  leading  points  which  one  should  know  to  enable 
him  to  buy  intelligendy,  and  we  would  refer  the  reader  for  fuller 
description  and  information  to  the  excellent  books  heretofore  pub- 
lished exclusively  on  this  subject. 

This  country  was  just  being  settled  when  the  Clock-makers' 
Company  was  founded  in  London,  in  1631.  This  company  had  for 
its  object  the  regulation  of  the  clock  trade,  and  in  order  to  prevent 
persons  frOm  being  cheated  or  deceived  by  unskilled  makers,  the 
members  were  given  the  right  of  search  and  confiscation  of  clocks  and 
watches  which  had  "bad  and  deceitful  works."  This  company  seems 
particularly  to  have  directed  its  energies  against  the  Dutch,  in  whose 
ability  as  clock-makers,  whether  merited  or  not,  the  English  had 
little  confidence. 

321 


COLONMAL     FURNITURE 

The  most  important  work  which  this  company  accompHshed  was 
the  training  of  men  for  the  art.  There  was  a  carefully  arranged  ap- 
prenticeship, and  after  serving  his  turn  each  apprentice  had  to  make 
his  masterpiece  before  he  was  admitted  as  a  workmaster ;  and  there- 
fore the  possessor  of  a  clock  bearing  the  name  of  a  member  of  the 
guild  may  rest  assured  that  the  piece  is  at  least  well  made. 

At  the  time  our  history  begins  there  were  two  general  styles  of 
clocks  in  use,  one  which  was  run  with  weights,  and  the  other  with  a 
spiral  spring.  The  former  variety  was  the  older,  although,  so  far  as 
this  country  is  concerned,  it  was  contemporaneous  and  of  necessity 
was  a  stationary  clock,  while  the  latter  was  easily  carried  about  and 
was  often  called  a  portable  or  table  clock. 

Clocks  are  seldom  mentioned  in  any  of  the  records  in  this  coun- 
try prior  to  1700,  and  were  always  valued  at  a  fairly  high  price  — 
the  lowest  6s.,  and  the  highest  ^20.  Descriptions  are  seldom  given, 
so  it  is  largely  a  matter  of  surmise  in  what  style  the  earliest  clocks 
were. 

Thus  at  Boston,  in  1638,  we  find  "  i  clock  i8s";  in  1652,  "i 
brass  clock  £2"  and  again  "  one  clock  in  case  ^6  "  ;  at  Salem,  in  1660, 
a  clock  valued  at  £2;  at  New  York,  in  1689,  "one  Pendula  Clock 
£(i "  ;  and  at  Boston,  in  the  inventory  of  Sir  William  Phips,  a  very 
wealthy  man,  we  find,  in  1696,  a  clock  valued  at  ^20  and  a  repeating 
clock  at  £\o\  at  New  York,  in  1691,  we  find  a  "diamond  watch" 
mentioned  without  valuation  given,  which  shows  a  lu.xury  quite  up- 
to-date. 

The  earliest  clock  mentioned,  in  1638,  could  have  been  either  a 
lantern  clock,  described  below,  or  a  portable  clock;  but  as  the  inven- 
tories several  times  refer  to  brass  clocks  when  describing  the  lantern 
variety,  the  one  mentioned  in  1638  was  probably  a  portable  one  after 
the  fashion  of  the  one  shown  in  Figure  274. 

This  style  of  clock  came  into  use  about  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth   century,  and    this    particular    clock    was    made    by    Jonathan 


CLOCKS 

Loundes,  a  famous  clock-maker  of  Pall  Mall,  London,  who  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Clock-makers'  Company  in  1680.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
face  has  the  oval  top.  This  style  was  introduced  by  Tompion,  who 
died  in  1713,  and  onl)-  appears  on  his  later  clocks.  The  style,  how- 
ever, became  very  popular  in  the  reign  of  George  I,  which  Ix'gan  in 
I  714,  and  we  should  place  the  date  of  the  clock  somewhere  between 
1 710  and  I  720.     The  face  has  not  the  applied  spandrels  in  the  corner, 


Portable  or  Table  Clock,  1710-20. 


P'igure  275. 

Portable  or  Table  Clock,  last 
quarter  eighteenth  century. 


as  is  usual,  but  is  engraved  with  an  urn  at  the  top,  and  oval  figures 
surrounded  with  wTeaths  in  the  four  corners.  The  case  is  in  the  typi- 
cal style  of  the  portable  clock,  and  is  japanned.  It  belongs  to  the 
Long  Island  Historical  Society. 

Figure  275  is  another  clock  in  the  same  style,  made  by  Isaac 
Fox,  of  London,  who  was  admitted  to  the  Clock-makers'  Company  in 
1772,  and  is  given  to  show  how  little  the  style  ch^liged  during  a  long- 
period.      It  belongs  to  Mr.  Meggat. 

The  clock  next  found  in  the  inventories  is  in  1652  — "  i  brass  clock 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


£2."      This    undoubtedly    refers    to    such    a    clock    as    is    shown    in 
Figure  276. 

Such  clocks  are  known  by  the  following  names:  "  chamber," 
"lantern,"  "bird-cage,"  and  "bedpost";  all  but  the  last  name  prob- 
ably referring  to  its  shape,  and  the 
last  referring  either  to  its  shape  or 
to  its  beinor  at  times  fastened  to  the 
bedposts;  for,  as  they  were  often 
fitted  with  an  alarm  attachment,  they 
must  have  been  designed  for  sleep- 
ing-rooms as  well  as  other  parts 
of  the  house.  This  style  of  clock 
came  into  existence  in  England  about 
the  year  1600.  These  clocks  were 
set  upon  brackets,  as  shown  in  this 
illustration,  with  weights  hanging 
below,  and  were  wound  up  by  pulling 
down  the  opposite  end  of  the  cord 
holding  the  weights.  The  face  was 
usually  a  little  larger  than  the  rest, 
and  the  centre  of  the  dial  was  often 
beautifully  etched.  The  bell  at  the 
top  was  sometimes  used  for  an 
alarm  only,  and  sometimes  to  strike 
the  hour  as  well. 

The  earliest  clocks  had  no  pen- 
dulum, but  a  balance  controlled  the 
movement,  and  about  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century  the  pendu-' 
lum   came   into  use.      The  original   pendulum   was   short,   about    the 
length   of  the    case,  and   as   it  swung  would    fly  out   at  either  side 
of  the  case,   acquiring  the   name  of  "  bob  pendulum."    It  is   some- 

324 


t!J 


Figure  276. 
Chamber  or  Lantern  Clock,  1600-40. 


Figure  277. 

Chamber  or  Lantern  Clock,  1660-80. 


325 


CLOCKS 

times  found  hung  outside  the  case,  and  sometimes  inside,  and 
when  the  latter  is  true  little  slits  are  cut  in  the  case  to  allow  the 
pendulum  to  swing  out  on  each  side.  Such  clocks  run  not 
longer  than  from  twelve  to  thirty  hours.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
at  the  top,  on  three  sides,  is  a  fret,  put  there  partially  to  conceal  the 
large  bell  and  give  finish  to  the  piece,  and  these  frets  will  often  enable 
one  to  determine  the  age  of  a  clock.  Many  clock-makers  had  their 
own  private  frets,  while  others  followed  the  design  most  popular  at 
that  time.  The  clocks  also  often  have  the  maker's  name  engraved  on 
the  dial. 

The  fret  on  Figure  276  is  called  the  "  heraldic  fret,"  and  was  used 
from  1600  to  1640,  so  that  this  clock  is  an  extremely  early  one.  The 
next  pattern  of  fret  most  commonly  found  is  the  "  dolphin  fret,"  which 
appeared  about  1650  and  remained  popular  throughout  the  rest  of 
the  time  this  style  of  clock  was  fashionable  ;  consequently  it  is  the 
pattern  most  commonly  met  with.  It  consisted  either  of  two  dolphins 
with  tails  crossed,  or  two  dolphins  with  heads  together  and  tails  form- 
ing a  curve  at  either  side. 

Another  fret  which  was  used  by  Charles  Fox,  clock-maker,  and 
possibly  a  few  others  between  1660  and  1680  is  shown  in  Figure  277, 
and  a  still  later  pattern  is^shown  in  Figure  278. 

To  return  to  Figure  276,  it  is  arranged  for  an  alarm  onl)-,  and  does 
not  strike  the  hours,  the  alarm  being  set  by  a  centre  dial.  It  will  be 
noted  that  in  nearly  all  of  these  clocks  there  is  but  a  single  hand,  tell- 
ing the  hour  and  fifths  of  hours.  The  maker's  name  does  not  appear 
on  this  clock;   it  was  found  at  Salem,  Massachusetts. 

Figure  277  is  a  more  pretentious  clock.  It  both  strikes  the  hour 
and  has  the  alarm,  which  is  set  in  the  same  w^ay  as  in  the  preceding 
clock,  and  the  dial  is  very  handsomely  engraved.  The  upper  side 
of  the  inner  dial  has  the  following  inscription  :  "  Charles  Fox  at  the 
Fox  Lothbury,  Londini  Fecit."  Charles  Fox  was  admitted  to  the 
Clock-makers'  Company   in  1660.     This    clock   was  found    in    New 

327 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


Jersey,  and  it  and  the  preceding  one  belong  to  Mr.  Meggat.      It  is 

more  compact  than  Figure  276,  but  its  dimensions  are  about  the  same: 
1 5  inches  high  by  5  3^  inches  wide,  and  the  dial 
is  6%^  inches  in  diameter. 

Figure  278  shows  another  clock  of  this  same 
style,  also  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Meggat.  It  is 
\ery  much  smaller  than  the  two  others  shown, 
being  but  9  inches  in  height  and  3^4  inches  wide, 
and  the  dial  is  4J-4  inches  in  diameter.  It  still 
has  its  original  bob  pendulum,  which  can  be  seen 
in  the  illustration  hanging  in  the  middle  between 
its  four  legs.  It  also  has  a  minute-hand.  This 
clock  strikes,  but  has  no  alarm,  and  seems  to  be 
of  French  make. 

Figures  276  and  277  have  had  the  long  pen- 
dulum substituted  for  the  bob  pendulum,  probably 
because  they  would  thus  keep  better  time.  It 
was  the  fashion,  during  the  first  twenty  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  to  have  this  change 
made,  and  many  advertisements  are  to  be  found 
of  clock-makers  who  advertise  to  substitute  long 
pendulums  for  short  ones  at  reasonable  charges. 

The  long  or  royal  pendulum  is  supposed  to 
have  been  invented  by  Richard  Harris  at  London 
in  1 64 1  ;  but  it  found  little  favor  at  first,  and  the 
date  when  it  came  into  common  use  is  usually 
placed  at  16S0.  It  was  also  invented  on  the 
Continent  at  about  the  same  time,  apparently 
without   knowledge   of   Harris's  invention,  and   it 

is   probable   that    some   of    those   found    their    way   to    this    country 

before  1680. 

Figure  279  shows  a  Dutch  bracket  clock  owned  by  Mr.  Charles 


Figure  278. 

Chamber  or  Lantern 

Clock,  last  quarter 
seventeenth  centurv. 


^,2S 


CLOCKS 


Morson,  of  Brooklyn.  The  face  and  ornaments  are  made  of  lead,  the 
ornaments  gilded,  and  the  face  painted.  The  feet  are  of  wood,  and 
in  the  usual  Dutch  ball -foot  style.  It 
has  a  bob  pendulum,  and  the  works 
are  of  brass.  It  differs  from  the  brass 
clocks  above  described  in  that  the  top 
of  the  clock  is  protected  by  a  wooden 
hood.  A  characteristic  of  the  brackets 
of  these  clocks  is  the  mermaid  cut  out 
of  the  wood  on  either  side  of  the  back. 
Such  clocks  are  contemporaneous  with 
the  English  brass  chamber  clocks,  but 
are  very  inferior  in  workmanship,  and, 
we  believe,  are  such  as  the  Clock- 
makers'  Company  sought  to  suppress. 

The  development  from  the  brass 
chamber  or  lantern  clock  to  the  tall  or 
"grandfather's"  was  a  natural  one. 
First,  a  wooden  hood  was  placed  over  the 
brass  clock  for  protection,  and  when  the 
long  pendulum  came  into  fashion  it  had 
to  be  enclosed  to  keep  it  from  injury, 
the  result  being  a  clock  with  a  long  case. 

The  earliest  lonfr-case  clocks,  as 
well  as  any  seventeenth-century  clocks, 
are  extremely  scarce. 

The  inventory  at  Boston,  "  i  clock 
and  case  £6,"  in  1652,  would  be  an 
extremely  early  entry  for  a  tall  clock, 
although  the  high  price  would  indicate 
that  it  was  such ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  entry  in  New  York, 
in  1689,  "one  Pendulum  Clock  /,6,"  referring  to  the  tall-case  clock. 

329 


Figure  279. 

Dutch  Chamber  Clock,  seven- 
teenth century. 


COLONMAL     FURNITURE 

The  earliest  clock-cases  were  very  plain,  made  mostly  of  oak  or 
walnut,  the  finer  ones  being  almost  entirely  of  the  latter  wood;  and  on 
the  dial-face  of  the  earlier  ones  the  maker's  name  appears  vmder  the 
dial  in  Latin  ;  a  little  later  the  name  appeared  on  the  dial  between 
the  figures  \'II  and  Y  within  the  circle,  and  about  1715  the  name- 
plate  appeared. 

At  first  the  dials  were  square,  but  they  later  (about  1710)  were 
made  with  the  straight  top  broken  by  a  half-circle,  suggested  either 
by  the  dome  bell  on  the  chamber  clock,  or  more  probably  to  cover 
the  top  of  the  bell;  and  many  of  the  old  clock-faces  were  made  over  in 
this  way  when  the  fashion  changed. 

As  with  the  chamber  clock  the  date  could  be  told  somewhat  by 
the  fret,  so  in  the  tall  clock  an  approximation  can  be  made  by  observ- 
ing the  spandrels  or  corner  ornaments  on  the  face.  The  earliest  faces 
have  a  cherub's  head,  almost  perfectly  plain,  in  the  four  corners,  which 
continued  in  use  as  late  as  i  700.  This  was  followed  by  cherubs  a  little 
more  ornate,  going  out  of  style  about  the  same  time.  Then,  about  the 
year  1 700,  came  two  cupids  supporting  a  crown  (see  Figure  282), 
which,  in  its  simple  or  more  elaborate  form,  continued  to  be  used 
until  about  1740,  and  in  George  Ill's  reign  the  pattern  became  very 
intricate,  sometimes  with  an  Indian  or  some  other  head  in  the  centre  of 
a  mass  of  scrollwork,  sometimes  without  the  head.      (See  Figure  285.) 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  the  age  of  a  clock  by  its  case,  as  very 
often  the  works  were  brought  over  here  without  the  case,  or,  as 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  works  were  taken  out  and  hid- 
den and  the  case  left  to  be  destroyed.  Nor  can  one  alwajs  judge 
by  the  face,  as  old  faces  have  sometimes  been  discarded  for  newer 
styles.  Nor  can  one  always  tell  from  the  name-plate,  for  the  writer 
knows  of  at  least  one  instance  where  the  name-plate  had  been  re- 
moved and  that  of  a  clock-maker  who  made  repairs  substituted.  It  is 
really  only  by  taking  into  consideration  all  the  points  heretofore  dis- 
cussed that  one  can  come  to  an  approximation  of  the  age  of  a  clock. 

330 


Figure  280. 

Tall  Clock,  about  1700. 


331 


CLOCKS 

Fio^ure  280  shows  one  of  the  earliest  tall  clocks  which  we  have 
found  in  this  country.  It  is  owned  by  the  Philadelphia  Library, 
and  is  said  to  have  belonged  to  Oliver  Cromwell ;  but  this  tradition 
cannot  be  true.  It  probably  dates  about  1690-1700.  The  name 
of  the  maker  appears  below  the  dial  in  Latin,  "Johannes  Fromanteel, 
Londini  fecit,"  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  an  indication  of  its  age. 
This  John  Fromanteel  was  a  member  of  an  illustrious  family  of  clock- 
makers  who  are  mentioned  as  early  as  1630.  One  of  them  is  spoken 
of  by  Evelyn  as  "our  famous  Fromantel,"  and  they  were  undoubtedly 
at  the  head  of  their  profession.  This  John  was  not  admitted  to  the 
Clock-makers'  Company  until  1663,  and  for  that  reason  we  have  said 
that  this  clock  could  not  have  belonged  to  Oliver  Cromwell,  who  had 
died  before  that  date,  and  it  is  hardly  likely  that  he  would  have 
owned  a  clock  made  by  an  apprentice  not  yet  admitted  to  the  guild. 

The  dial  of  this  clock  is  silvered  and  the  rest  of  the  face  is  of 
brass,  without  spandrels  at  the  corners,  and  we  can  see  no  signs  of  there 
ever  having  been  any,  although  on  some  of  his  clocks  are  to  be  found 
the  early  cherub-head  spandrels.  There  was  originally,  no  doubt, 
but  a  single  hand,  and  the  clock  has  a  small  calendar  attachment. 
The  case  is  made  of  walnut,  and  very  tall,  to  make  room  for  the  pen- 
dulum. These  pendulums  were  sometimes  seven  feet  long.  The 
early  single  moulding  is  seen  about  the  doors,  and  the  spiral-turned 
columns  are  typical  of  the  early  clock-cases.  As  to  whether  the 
broken  arch  at  the  top  is  of  the  same  age  as  the  rest  of  the  case  it 
is  very  difficult  to  tell;  in  fact,  the  whole  question  of  the  age  of  the 
broken  arch,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  chapter  on  Chests  of  Drawers, 
is  very  difficult  to  solve  we  believe,  however,  that  it  could  have 
been  original  on  this  clock,  as  we  have  seen  them  on  clocks  dating 
about  I  700. 

Figure  281  shows  another  early  clock.  The  case  is  made  of 
pine  or  some  other  soft  wood,  and  the  band  of  carving  at  the  top  is 
early  in  design.     This  clock-case  also  has  the  single-arch  moulding 

333 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


about  the  doors,  and  there  is  an  opening  in  the  lower  door  to  show 
the  swinging  of  the  penduhnn.  It  is  at  the  Van  Cortlandt  Mansion, 
Van  Cortlandt  Park,  New  York. 

Figfure  282  shows   a   detail   of  the  face  of  the   forefjoino-  clock 
which  is  worth  noting.      It  will  be  seen  that  the  spandrels  are  of  the 


lA 


Figure  282. 
Dial  of  Clock  shown  in  Figure  281. 


third  order, —  cupids  holding  a  crown, —  which 
came  into  fashion  about  1 700.  The  maker's 
name,  Walter  Archer,  appears  between  the  num- 
erals VII  and  V,  which  shows  it  to  date  proba- 
bly before  171  5.  We  have  been  unable  to  find 
this  maker's  name  among  the  members  of  the 
Clock-makers'  Company  or  elsewhere,  and  this 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  was  probably  from  one  of  the  smaller 
towns  in  England  or  a  colonial  maker.  The  clock  is  dated  1619, 
and  an  examination  with   the  eye  failed  to  detect  that  the  date  was 

334 


Figure  2S1. 

Tall  Clock,  about 
1700-10. 


CLOCKS 

engraved  at  a  later  date  than  the  rest  of  the  face  ;  but  the  photograph 
very  readily  shows  it  to  be  of  a  different  depth,  and  it  was  without  doubt 
added  at  a  rather  recent  date.  The  fact  that  pendulum  clocks  were 
not  invented  until  1 64 1  of  itself  would  disprove  the  date,  apart  from 
the  other  indications  above  referred  to,  which  lead  us  to  date  it  i  700-10. 


Figure  283. 

Dial  of  Tall  Clock  showing  Arch  Top,  1725-30. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  arched  upper  part  of  the  dial,  which 
came  in  a  litde  later,  was  intended  to  cover  the  bell,  which  in  this  illustra- 
tion shows  at  the  top.  This  clock  is  wound  by  pulling  up  the  weights 
by  hand,  as  is  the  method  in  the  bird-cage  clocks  above  referred  to. 

Figure  283  shows  a  clock-face  of  a  little  later  date,  indicated  by 
the  curved  top  of  the  dial,  and  the  name-plate,  both  of  which  came 
into  vogue  about  171 5.  The  spandrels,  however,  are  of  the  same 
kind  as  those  shown  in  the  last  figure,  and  the  name-plate  follows  the 
same  design  as  the  spandrels.      It  dates  about  1725-30. 

335 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


Figure  2S5. 

Dial  of  Clock  shown  in  Figure  284. 


I'igure  2S4. 

Musical  Clock,  Chippen- 
dale Case,  1760-70. 


336 


CLOCKS 


From  about  1 730  down  toward  the  close  of  the  century  there 
was  very  Httle  change  in  the  general  style  of  the  clocks.  They 
were  all  either  the  tall  "grandfather"  or  the 
portable  clock. 

Figure  284  shows  a  musical  clock  in  a 
Chippendale  case,  belonging  to  Mr.  Charles 
Morson,  its  chief  difference  from  those  hereto- 
fore described  being  that  the  lower  part  of  the 
case  is  kettle  shape. 

Figure  285  shows  a  detail  of  the  face  of 
this  clock.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  late 
spandrels  are  in  the  two  lower  corners.  This 
clock  was  made  by  Joseph  Rose,  of  London, 
who,  with  his  son,  had  a  shop  at  19  Foster 
Lane  from  1765  to  1768.  It  will  be  seen  that 
this  is  both  a  chime  and  a  musical  clock.  The 
upper  dial  sets  the  musical  part  to  play  either 
a  polonaise  or  a  march.  The  dial  to  the  left, 
as  one  faces  it,  regulates  the  strike,  and  that 
on  the  right  the  chime.  Such  clocks  as  these 
were  not  only  imported  to  the  colonies,  but 
there  were  several  clock-makers  here  who 
advertise    to    make    them.       In    the    Boston 


"Gazette"    for    P'ebruary 


/  /O' 


the    fol- 


Figure  286. 
Burnap  Clock,  1799. 


lowing  advertisement  appears :  "  Benjamin 
Willard  "  (first  of  the  famous  American  clock- 
makers  of  that  name)  "  at  his  shop  in  Roxbur)-  Street  pursues 
different  branches  of  clock  and  watch  work,  has  for  sale  musical 
clocks  playing  different  tunes,  a  new  tune  every  day  of  the  week  and 
on  Sunday  a  psalm  tune.  These  tunes  perform  every  hour  without 
any  obstruction  to  the  motion  or  going  of  the  clock  and  new  inven- 
tion for  pricking  barrels  to   perform  the   music  and    his  clocks   are 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


I  1 1 


made  much  cheaper  than  any  ever  j-et  known.     All  the  branches  of 
this  business  likewise  carried  on  at  his  shop  in  Grafton." 

Figure  286  illustrates  a  clock  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  W.  W. 
Andrews,  made  by  Daniel  Burnap,  a  well-known  American  clock- 
maker,  who  lived  at  Andover,  Plymouth,  and  East  Windsor,  Con- 
necticut, between  17S0  and  1800,  and  this  clock  was  bought  in  1799. 

A  characteristic  of  his  clocks  is  the  sil- 
vered face,  usually  beautifully  engraved, 
without  spandrels.  This  clock  has  both 
the  calendar  and  moon  phases,  and  the 
background  for  the  moon  phases  is  tinted 
blue.  The  works  are  always  of  brass, 
and  this  maker's  clocks  are  always  highly 
prized. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  century 
there  was  great  demand  for  cheaper 
clocks,  due  to  the  poverty  of  the  young 
republic,  just  recovering  from  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  and  an  inflated  currency. 
To  meet  this  demand,  about  1 790,  the 
painted  or  white-enamelled  dials  came  in, 
taking  the  place,  except  in  the  expensive 
clocks,  of  the  brass  dial.  These  painted 
faces  were  made  either  of  metal  or  wood, 
and  large  numbers  were  sold  to  clock- 
makers  throughout  the  country,  who  added  their  names  and  placed 
the  dials  on  works  often  not  made  by  themselves.  It  was  also  at 
this  time,  and  for  much  the  same  reason,  that  the  wooden  works 
began  to  be  used.  These  wooden  works  usually  had  bone  or  some 
other  hard  substance  for  bearings,  and  there  are  still  many  to  be 
found  keeping  good  time. 

Figure  287  shows  a  painted-face  clock,  in  the  possession  ot  Mr. 


m 


ij 


Fisiure  28S. 


French  Clock  of  Alabaster, 
1800-20. 


^^^i 


J^ 


Figure  2S7. 

Tall  Clock  with  Painted  Face,  about  1800. 
339 


CLOCKS 


Meggat.  On  its  face  appears  the  name  of  Jacob  Sargent,  of  Spring- 
field, Massachusetts,  a  locally  well-known  clock-maker  of  a  hundred 
years  ago.     The  works  are  of  brass,  and  the  case  is  of  pine,  painted. 

These  later  tall  clocks  are  sometimes  found  in  miniature,  from 
three  to  four  feet  tall,  with  the  other  proportions  corresponding. 

Figure  288  shows  a  clock  in  the  Louis  XVI  style,  belonging  to 
Mr.  L.  A.  Lockwood.  It  is  made  of  alabaster,  and  the  face  and  pen- 
dulum are  of  fire-gilt.     Such  clocks  were  intended  to  be  kept  under 


Figure  289. 
\\'illard  or  Banjo  Clock,  1800-20. 


Figure  290. 
Willard  or  Banjo  Clock,  1800-20. 


large  glass  globes,  which  fit  into  the  grooves  on  the  wooden  frame, 
thus  making  it  dust-proof  Many  such  clocks  found  their  way  to  this 
country  about  1800-20. 

Such  clocks,  besides  being  made  of  alabaster,  were  often  of  black 
marble  or  wood  painted  black,  with  brass  capitals  at  the  tops  of  the 
columns.  They  were  nearly  always  furnished  with  compen.sating  pen- 
dulums, and  were  excellcMit  timekeepers,  often  running  sixteen  days. 

A  form  of  clock  known  as  "Willard"  or  "banjo"  is  shown  in 
Figures  289  and  290.      There  seems  to  be  a  great  deal  of  doubt  as  to 

34" 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


who  made  these  clocks  first,  and  they  are  generally  credited  to  a 
clock-maker  by  the  name  Willard.  Mr.  Britton,  in  his  book  on  "  Old 
Clocks  and  Watches  and  their  ?^Iakers,"  credits  them  to  a  J.  Willard 
living  in  Boston  in  iSoo;  but  avc  have  been  unable  to  find,  either  in  the 
Boston  directories  or  the  genealogy  of  the  Willard  family,  any  clock- 
maker  with  that  initial.  The  Willard  family  had  been  famous  as 
clock-makers  for  several  generations.  There 
were  three  brothers:  Benjamin,  who  had  shops 
at  Boston,  Roxbury,  and  Grafton,  and  advertised 
the  musical  clocks  already  mentioned ;  Aaron, 
who  had  a  shop  in  Boston  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century;  and  Simon,  who  made  a  specialty  of 
tall  eight-day  clocks.  The  banjo  clocks  are,  as 
a  rule,  without  name,  and  it  has  proved  difficult 
to  determine  which  Willard  was  the  maker.  We 
know  of  banjo  clocks  bearing  the  name  Willard 
or  "Willard  patent"  stencilled  on  the  case,  and 
the  clock  shown  in  higure  289  had  originally 
the  name  "Willard,  Jr.,"  printed  on  its  face;  and 
we  know  of  one  banjo  clock  bearing  the  name 
Simon  Willard  in  the  same  lettering  as  appears 
on  a  tall  clock  by  that  maker  owned  by  the 
same  person.  We  are  told  b)-  others  that  they  have  seen  such  clocks 
which  they  think  bear  the  name  A.  Willard,  but  we  have  been  unable 
to  prove  this.  It  therefore  lies  between  Simon  and  Aaron,  and,  we 
believe,  in  favor  of  the  former,  for  he  had  a  son  Simon,  also  a  famous 
clock-maker,  and  this  may  account  for  the  "Willard,  Jr.,"  on  the  clock 
shown  in  Figure  289. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  clock  bearing  the  inscription  "A.  Willard, 
Boston,"  shown  in  Figure  291,  and  owned  by  the  Misses  Brown, 
of  Salem,  having  been  bought  from  Willard  by  their  grandfather, 
although  not  banjo  in  shape,  certainly  suggests  the  banjo  clock  in  its 

342 


Figure  291. 

Clock  made  by  A.  Wil- 
lard, early  nineteenth 
century. 


CLOCKS 

painted  case,  and  it  seems  possible  that  the  man  who  made  such  a 
clock  as  this  could  also  have  made  the  banjo  clock.  The  solution 
may  be  that  Simon,  Simon,  Jr.,  and  Aaron  all  made  these  clocks,  as 
also  did  others,  for  we  know  of  several  clocks  in  the  banjo  shape 
which  bear  names  of  various  clock-makers  of  Boston  and  else- 
where. We  know  definitely,  however,  that  Simon  Willard  made 
these  clocks,  but  whether  the  other  Willards  did  is  an  open  question. 


>^: 


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Figure  292. 
Mantel  Clock,  1812. 


In  general  shape  the  banjo  clock  resembles  an  English  clock 
called  "act  of  Parliament  clock,"  which  was  made  in  the  last  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  as  it  was  within  ten  years  of  this 
that  the  banjo  clock  appeared,  Willard  may  have  used  it  for  his 
model. 

They  are  usually  constructed  very  simply,  having  brass  works, 
and  running  eight  days,  but  having  no  strike.  They  were  excellent 
timekeepers,  and  many  are  in  use  to-day,  still  keeping  good  time. 

The  clock  shown  in  Figure  289  is  an  exception   to  the  general 

343 


COLONIAL     FURNITURE 


rule,  as  it  has  an  alarm  attachment.     Both  the  foregoing  banjo  clocks 
belono-  to  Mr.  IMesfo-at. 

In  1812  the  shelf  or  mantel  clocks  were  invented,  and  because 
they  could  be  sold  for  a  small  sum,  and  were  better  timekeepers  than 

the  cheaper  tall  clocks  with  wooden  works, 
they  soon  took  their  place,  and  it  is  practically 
from  181 2  that  the  decline  of  tall  clocks  can 
be  said  to  date. 

The  first  mantel  clocks  made  in  this  coun- 
tr\- were  made  by  Eli  Terry,  of  Plymouth  Hol- 
low (now  Thomaston),  Connecticut.      He  was 
a  clock-maker  of  considerable  reputation,  and 
so    arreat   was   the    demand    for   clocks   at    the 
beeinninLT   of   the    nineteenth   centur\-   that   in 
1803  he  made  three  thousand  tall-clock  move- 
ments.     He   then  sold  out  to  Calvin  Hoadley 
and    Seth    Thomas,    a    well-known    American 
clock-maker,  and  retired  from  business.      The 
demand  for  cheaper  clocks  than  could  be  made  with  the  tall  cases  led 
him  to  experiment  in  making  small  clocks,  and  about  the  )ear  1812 
he  made  six  mantel  clocks. 

Figure  202  shows  the  first  of  these  clocks.  It  was  a  very  crude 
affair,  and  Terry  never  used  it  as  a  model,  one  of  the  other  five  subse- 
quently being  adopted  for  the  working  model  of  the  later  mantel 
clock,  and  therefore  it  has  the  honor  ot  beintr  the  first  made  and  the 
only  one  built  from  this  design.  It  will  ^be  seen  that  it  is  nothing 
more  or  less  than  a  tall-case  clock  cut  down.  The  works  are  made 
of  wood,  and  a  weight  is  used  for  the  running  power  in  the  same  way 
as  in  the  tall  clocks.  This  clock  was  bought  from  Eli  Terry  b)-  Ozias 
Goodwin,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his  great-grandson,  J.  C. 
Spencer,  of  Thomaston,  Connecticut. 

The  model  which  was  adopted  for  the  later  mantel  clocks  was 

344 


Figure  293. 
Mantel  Clock,  1820-30. 


CLOCKS 

arranged  with  the  pendukim  and  verge  in  front  of  the  works  behind 
the  face,  and  was  run  with  a  spiral  spring. 

Figure  293  shows  a  shelf  clock,  belonging  to  the  Hon.  John  R. 
Buck,  which  dates  between  1820  and  1830,  and  is  a  good  example  of 
the  stj'le.  It  was  quite  often  the  custom  to  paste  in  the  backs  of  these 
clocks  a  copy  of  the  last  census  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  United 
States,  and  it  is  thus  possible  to  approximate  the  year  they  were 
made. 


345 


INDEX 


Adam,  James,  lo 

Adam,  Robert,  lo 

American  Antiquarian  Society,  double 
Chippendale  chair  owned  by,  202 ; 
slate-top  table,  227 

American  Hepplewhite  chair,  1S7 

American  oak,  characteristics  of,  35 

American  Sheraton  settee,  206 

Andrews,  Mrs.  W.  \V.,  specimens  owned 
by:  Burnap  clock,  337,  338;  candle- 
stand,  232;  Dutch  chairs,  158;  Hep- 
plewhite side-board,  115;  Hepplewhite 
table,  239;  pine  settle,  197,  198; 
roundabout  chair,  157;  Sheraton  sofa, 
213,  214;  Sheraton  wash-stand,  108 

Archer  \V'alter,  334 

B 

Ball-foot  scrutoir,  255,  257 

Bandy-legged  chairs,  152,  157-165 

Banister-back  chair,  155,  156;  armed,  156 

Banjo  clock,  341 

"Beaufatts"  (Buffets),  descriptions  and 
cuts  of,  107,  108 

Bedposts,  Empire,  315 

Bedstead,  Countess  of  Devon's  famous, 
301  ;  Peter  Stuyvesant's,  Helen  Evert- 
son  Smith  quoted  on,  306 

Bedsteads,  300-320:  historical  sketch  of, 
300-307  ;  prices  of,  in  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, 303  ;  kinds  of  colonial,  304  ;  rea- 
sons for  disappearance  of  seventeenth- 
century,  305  ;  couch,  307  ;  woods  used 
in  construction  of,  310;  Chippendale, 
312  ;  low-post,  316 

Beekman,  Mrs.  Henry  R.,  description  and 
cut  of  kas  owned  by,  98 

Bible-box,  248,  249 

Bidwell,  Miss  Esther,  descriptions  and  cuts 


of  specimens  in  the  collection  of: 
chairs,  158,  163,  164,  184;  chest,  28; 
chest  of  drawers,  60;  cupboard,  62; 
dressing-table,  63;  Dutch  table  228, 
229;  mirror,  288;  tea-table,  200 

Block-front  bureau,  7  i 

Block-front  cabinet-top  scrutoir,  272,  273; 
slant-top,  272 

Block-front  low  chest  of  drawers,  72 

Boardman,  Mr.  William  G.,  rare  dressing- 
table  with  slate  top  owned  by,  53 

BoIIes  collection  :  chest,  description  and  cut 
of,  in,  23  ;  slant-top  scrutoirs  in,  257 

Books  of  design,  first,  7,  8  ;  Sheraton's,  1 1 

Brasses,  earliest  use  of,  in  drawer-handles, 
36  ;  as  bail  handles,  53 

Brewster's,  Elder,  ship-chest,  14;  turned 
chair,  128 

Brown,  Miss  E.  A.,  descriptions  and  cuts 
of  furniture  owned  by  :  card-table,  244  ; 
Empire  sofa,  214;  Hepplewhite  easy- 
chair,  188  ;  mirror,  carved  and  gilt,  290 

Buck,  Hon.  John  R.,  descriptions  and  cuts 
of  furniture  owned  by :  Chippendale 
chair,  177;  clock,  345;  mirrors,  295, 
296;  Windsor  chair,  166 

Buffets,  descriptions  and  cuts  of :  Mr. 
Meggat's,  106,  108;  Mr.  A.  H.  Pitkin's 
corner,  107,  108 

Bulkeley,  Mrs.  G.  L.,  descriptions  and  cuts 
of  furniture  owned  by :  Chijipendale 
chair,  183;  chest,  16;  cupboard,  90, 
91  ;  settle,  carved  oak,  196,  197  ;  Shera- 
ton scrutoir,  278 

Bureau,  origin  of  word,  262  ;  true  mean- 
ing of,  263 

Bureaus,  69-79 

I5urnap  clock,  337 

Burnell,  Mr.  C.  J.,  slat-back  chair  owned 

W>  154 
Butterfly  table,  224 


347 


INDEX 


Cabinet-top  scrutoirs,  264,  267,  271 

Cabriole-legged  furniture;  chairs,  152, 
J57-165  ;  chests  of  drawers,  54,  55,  57  ; 
dressing-table,  56;  scrutoir,  25S-260 

Cane  chairs,  first,  139 

Card-tables,  234-243:  Chippendale,  235, 
237;  Empire,  243  ;  Hepplewhite,  238  ; 
Sheraton,  239 

Carved  mahogany  mirror,  297,  298 

Carved  spoon-rack,  description  and  cut 
of,  101 

Carver,  Governor,  turned  chair  of,  128 

Carving,  first  mention  of,  13;  on  colonial 
chests,  15  ;  cost  of  cupboard,  92 

Chairs,  123-195  :  age  of, to  determine,!  23  ; 
banister-back,  155, 156  ;  cabriole-legged, 
152,  157-165;  cane,  139;  Chinese  de- 
signs used  by  Chippendale,  174;  Chip- 
pendale, 173,  185  ;  colonial,  varieties  of, 
129;  Empire,  193,  194;  Flemish,  139- 
1 44  ;  Gibbons,  mahogany  chair  carved 
bv,  7  ;  Hepplewhite,  1 1,  186-188  ;  Ital- 
ian, 145;  leather,  134-139;  roundabout, 
156;  scroll-foot,  139-144;  Sheraton, 
189-193;  slat-back,  153-155  ;  Spanish, 
139,  146,  150,  163;  how  to  distinguish 
Chippendale,  Hepplewhite,  Sheraton, 
and  Dutch,  1 72  ;  spiral  turned, 3  ;  turned, 
127,  130;  upholstered,  2;  wainscot, 
131-134;  Windsor,  152,  164-170 

Chair-tables,  134,  221 

Chaise-longue,  209,  210 

Chambers,  8 

Chests  :  two-drawer  carved  chests,  24  ;  his- 
tory of,  13;  original  colonial,  14;  first 
drawers  in,  ig;  Dutch,  17,  18;  Eliza- 
bethan, 16;  "  Hadley,"  27-32;  how  to 
determine  dates  of,  33 ;  Lady  Anne 
Millington's  carved  oak,  17;  panelled 
chest  in  author's  collection,  22  ;  mould- 
ings on  designs  of,  23  ;  carved  and  wain- 
scoted, in  the  colonies,  6  ;  values  of,  33 

Chests  of  drawers,  36-79  :  cabriole-legged, 
54  ;  description  of  earliest  colonial,  43, 
44  ;  earliest  use  of,  40 ;  with  cupboard 
top,  description  and  cut  of,  103  ;  maple. 


description  and  cut  of,  54 ;  prices  of, 
53 ;  with  turned  legs,  50  ;  Chinese  de- 
sign used  by  Chippendale,  1 74 

Chippendale,  Thomas,  sketch  of,  8,  9  ;  first 
influence  of,  on  chair  styles,  173  ;  chairs 
made  by,  173-185; 

Chippendale  furniture:  bedsteads,  312; 
card-table,  235;  chairs,  cuts  of,  179; 
couch,  209;  double  chair,  201  ;  how  to 
distinguish  genuine,  172;  sideboard  in 
America,  112;  sofa,  211;  table,  234, 
235  ;  urns  on  mirror,  287 

"  Chippendale  Period  in  English  Furni- 
ture "  quoted  on  serpentine  inlaid  side- 
boards, 1 1 2 

Clock-makers'  Company,  321 

Clocks,  321-345  :  values  of,  in  seventeenth 
century,  322  ;  banjo,  341  ;  earliest  cases 
for,  330  ;  French  alabaster,  338  ;  lan- 
tern, 324,  325;  mantel,  343;  musical, 
336,  337  ;  painted-face,  338,  339  ;  port- 
able, 322,  323  ;  tall,  331,  333  ;  to  deter- 
mine age  of,  330;  Willard,  341,  342 

Clouston,  W.  K.,  quoted  on  serpentine 
inlaid  sideboards,  112 

Colonial  chests,  14 

Connecticut  Historical  Society,  descriptions 
and  cuts  of  furniture  owned  by :  chests, 
21,  25,  26;  chairs:  banister-back,  155; 
Flemish,  140,  143;  Spanish,  146,  149, 
150;  turned,  1 27  ;  oak  drawing-table, 2 18 

Corner  buffet,  107,  108 

Corner  cupboards,  1 04 

Cornice,  introduction  of  broken-arch,  6 

Couch-bedstead,  307 

Couches,  206-210;  Chippendale,  209 

Court  cupboard,  81  ;  description  and  cut 
of  Christ  Church  College  dining-room, 
82,  83  ;   prices  of,  85 

Cradle,  sixteenth-century,  30S  ;  wicker,  309 

Cupboards,  descriptions  and  cuts  of: 
carved,  89,  92  ;  cloths  for,  95  ;  colonial 
terms  for:  corner,  104;  court,  81,  85; 
cushions  for,  95;  Dutch,  96;  historical 
sketch  of,  81,  82  ;  joined,  87  ;  livery,  Si, 
85  ;  oak  used  in  construction  of,  86,  92  ; 
panelled,  104;  prices  of,  85  ;  wainscot, 
87  ;  German  origin  of,  95 

348 


INDEX 


D 

Designs  :  seventeenth-century  chests,  cup- 
board, and  wainscot  chair,  i  5 

Desk-box,  250,  251 

Desks,  247,  252;  character  of  early,  247, 
24S  ;  Empire,  281 

Double  chair,  Sheraton,  205 

Drawers,  chests  of,  36—79 ;  early  seven- 
teenth-century chests  without,  19;  first 
colonial  chests  with,  19 

Drawing-tables,  2 1  7 

Dressing-tables,  descriptions  and  cuts  of, 
46  :  in  writer's  collection,  49  ;  with  stone 
or  slate  tops,  50,  51  ;  prices  of,  53;  ve- 
neered walnut,  56 

Drop  brass  handles,  53 

Drop-leaf  table,  230 

Dutch  furniture,  descriptions  and  cuts  of : 
chairs,  152,  157—165  ;  double  chair,  201  ; 
to  determine  chairs,  172;  chests,  de- 
scription of,  17;  number  of,  in  New- 
York,  18  ;  cupboard,  description  and  cut 
of,  96,  97;  tables,  228,  229;  tea-tables, 
232,  233 


Easy-chairs,  Hepplewhite,  188 

.Elizabethan  chest,  description  and  cue 
of,  15,  16 

Empire  furniture  :  style  and  characteristics 
of,  12  ;  bureaus,  74,  78  ;  bedposts,  315  ; 
bedstead,  316,  317  ;  French,  273  ;  chairs, 
193,  194;  desk,  281;  mirror,  carved 
mahogany,  297,  298 ;  gilt,  298 ;  gilt 
mantel,  299 ;  sideboards,  descriptions 
and  cuts  of,  i  ig-122  ;  sofas,  214,  215  ; 
tables:  card,  243-245  ;  work,  243,  244; 
pillar-and-claw,  245 

English  oak,  characteristics  of,  35 

Erving,  Mr.  Henry  W.,  description  and 
cuts  of  furniture  owned  by  :  chests,  Had- 
ley,  26,  28,  32  ;  chest  of  drawers,  37, 
44-46  ;  two-drawer,  carved,  24  ;  couch, 
rush-bottomed,  208  ;  cupboard,  panelled 
and  inlaid  jjress,  89,  90  ;  desk-box,  251; 
table,  X-braced,  225 

Escutcheons,  cut  of,  54 


Essex  Institute,  wainscot  chair  owned  by, 
132;  settee  owned  by,  199-201 

Ethridge,  Mr.,  Hepplewhite  sideboard 
owned  by,  114 

Extension-table,  first,  3 


Fan-back  Windsor  chairs,  167 
Feather-beds,   used    without    bedstead    in 

New  England,  302 
Ferris,  Prof.  H.  B.,  oak  chest  in  the  col- 

lection  of,  1 7 
Fire-screen  scrutoir,  277 
Flemish  chairs,  139,  144 
Flemish  couch,  207,  208 
Flemish  furniture,  popularity  o(,  4 
Forman,  Mrs.  Alexander,  descriptions  and 

cuts  of  furniture  owned  by :   bedstead, 

313;   bureau,  74;  table,  244 
Forms,  wide  use  of,  1 24 
Fox,  Charles,  327 
Framed  desk,  252 


"  Gates  of  Language  Unlocked  "  quoted, 
136 

"  Gentleman's  and  Cabinet-Maker's  Direc- 
tor," quotation  from,  9 

Gibbons,  Grinling,  mahoganv  chair  carved 

by,  7 
Gillingham,    Mr.    F.    C,    slat-back    chair 

owned  by,  1 54 
Girandole,  carved  and  gilt,  293 

H 

"  Hadley  "  chest,  descriptions  and  cuts  of, 
26,  27 

Handles,  drawer,  53  ;  cut  of,  54  ;  rosette, 
on  •double  chest  of  drawers,  68 ;  third 
and  fourth  periods,  cuts  of,  69  ;  descrip- 
tions and  puts  of,  from  1800  to  1820,  79 

Harris,  Richard,  328 

Hejiplewhite,  sketch  of,  10,  11  ;  furniture, 
points  of,  II  ;  descriptions  and  cuts  of: 
card-tables,  238,  239,  241;  chair,  ii; 
chairs,    186-188;    to  determine   chairs, 


349 


INDEX 


172;  mirrors,  2g2  ;  sideboards,  113-115  ; 
wash-stand,  108 
High-boy,  description  of  flat-topped  bandy- 
legged, 59 
Holland,  furniture  imported  from,  2 
Holland  cupboard,  description  and  cut  of, 

96 

Hosnier,.  Mr.  Walter,  descriptions  and 
cuts  of  furniture  in  the  collection  of : 
chest,  32;  chest  of  drawers,  ^o ;  Chip- 
pendale couch,  2og  ;  cupboard,  90  ;  cup- 
board of  drawers,  93  ;  Dutch  chair,  162  ; 
scrutoir,  cabriole-legged,  260 

Hulbert,  Mr.,  description  and  cut  of 
panelled  cupboard  in  collection  of,  87 


Ince,  9 

Inlay,  beauty  of  Hepplewhite's,  1 1  ;  Sher- 
aton's use  of,  11;  woods  used  by  Hep- 
plewhite  and  Shearer  for,  112 

Italian  chair,  145 

J 

Jacobean  furniture,  2 
Jenkins,    Mrs.    E.    W.. 

owned  by,  234,  235 
Johnson,  9 

K 


mahogany    table 


Kas,  descriptions  and  cuts  of  Dutch,  98,  99 
Knife-and-spoon  box,  cut  of,  117 


Lantern-clock,  324 

Leather  chair,  134-139 

Livery  cupboard,  81  ;   prices  of,  85 

Lockwood,John  Vincent,  descriptions  and 
cuts  of  furniture  owned  by  :  chairs  :  Chip- 
pendale, 185  ;  Flemish  and  Spanish,  149  ; 
turned,  130;  Windsor  writing,  167,  168; 
chest,  two-drawer  panelled,  22  ;  chests  of 
drawers,  49,  51,  54;  spoon-rack,  102; 
tables:  dressing,  49;  tea,  22^,  234 

Lockwood,_  Mr.  Luke  A.,  descriptions 
and  cuts  of  furniture  owned  by  :  chairs  : 
banister-back,    156;    Sheraton    double, 


205;  slat-back,  153;  clock,  alabaster, 
338,341;    Hepplewhite  sideboard,  113 

Long  Island  Historical  Society,  portable 
clock  owned  by,  323  ;  slant-top  writing- 
desk,  249,  250 

Louisiana  furniture,  1 2 

Loundes,  Jonathan,  323 

Low-boy,  description  and  cut  of,  46 

Low-post  bedstead,  316-319 

Lyon,  Dr.,  quoted  on  Chippendale,  8 

M 

Maclntire,  10 

Mahogany,  Chippendale's  almost  exclusive 
use  of,  8 ;  difference  between  old  and 
new,  78;  history  of,  75-79;  introduc- 
tion of,  7 

Manning,  Miss  .Augusta,  descriptions  and 
cuts  of  furniture  owned  by :  chairs : 
Chippendale,  181;  Italian,  145;  Span- 
ish, 151;  Sheraton  card-table,  239- 
241 

Mantel-clock,  344 

Mantelpiece,  English,  21 

Manwaring,  9 

Marble  tables,  1 1 1 

]\Iarquetry  Empire  scrutoir,  282 ;  intro- 
duction into  England,  4 ;  woods  used 
by  Shearer  and  Hepplewhite  for,  112 

"Martha  Washington  tea-table,"  230,  231 

Matthews,  Mr.  John  R.,  mirror  owned  by, 
287 

Meggat,  Mr.  William,  descriptions  and  cuts 
of  furniture  owned  by  :  banjo  clock,  341  ; 
bedsteads,  low-post,  316,  319;  buffet, 
108;  bureau,  block-front,  73;  card- 
tables,  235,  238;  chairs:  Chippendale, 
177,  179;  Dutch,  162;  Hepplewhite, 
186,  187;  Phyfe,  193,  194;  Sheraton, 
igo,  192;  slat-back,  154;  Spanish,  150; 
chests  of  drawers,  49,  64  ;  clocks :  banjo, 
341  ;  chamber,  328;  painted-face,  341  ; 
portable,  323 ;  knife-and-spoon  box, 
117;  mirror,  291  ;  scrutoirs :  serpentine- 
front,  276;  slant-top,  260,  261;  side- 
boards: Empire,  120,  121;  Sheraton, 
117;  tables:  card,  235,  238;  dressing, 
veneered  walnut,  56;  Dutch,  228;   oak, 


350 


INDEX 


2ig,  220  ;  pie-crust,  232,  233  ;  tea,  231  ; 

wash-stand,  Hepplewhite,  108 

Memorial  Hall,  Spanish  chair  at,  146,  147 

Millington,  Lady  Anne,  carved  chest  of,  16 

Mirrors,  284-299:   dates  of,    284;    prices 

of,  in  seventeenth  century :   carved  and 

gilt,  290  ;  Empire  carved  mahogany,  297, 

298 ;    gilt    mantel,    299 ;    Hepplewhite, 

292  ;  mahogany  inlaid,  291  ;  olive-wood, 

285,  286;  walnut  and  gilt,  286,  287 

Morson,     Charles,     Dutch    bracket-clock 

owned  by,  329 
Musical  clock,  336,  337 

N 

New  Amsterdam,  early  furniture  of,  5 
New  England,  early  furniture  of,  5  ;  side- 
board, 122 

O 

Oak,  English  bedsteads  constructed  of, 
301  ;  characteristics  of  English  and 
American,  35 ;  universal  English  use 
of,  2  ;   used  in  cupboards,  86 

Old  Newbury  Historical  Society,  oak  table 
owned  by,  219 

Otto,  Mrs.,  Hepplewhite  chair  owned  by, 
187,  188 


Palmer,  Mr.  George  S.,  Chippendale  chairs 

owned  by,  173 
Panelled  chests,  variety  of  mouldings  on 

designsof  English-made,  23,  24  ;  chests  of 

drawers,  38,  41  ;  cupboards,  87-89,  104 
Pendleton,  Mr.  C.  L.,  Chippendale  chairs 

owned  by,  173;   chests  of  drawers,  59, 

60,  69 
Philadelphia  Library,  tall  clock  owned  by, 

33'',  333  ;   oldest  scrutoir  with  top,  264, 

265 
Phyfe,  card-table    made  by,   243 ;    chair, 

193.  194 
Pie-crust  tables,  232,  233 
Pierce,  Mr.  F.  O.,  Chippendale  chair  owned 

by,  177  ;  Flemish  couch  in  collection  of, 

207,  208 
Pilgrim    Hall,    descriptions    and    cuts    of 


furniture  at:  wainscot  chair,  132;  six- 
teenth-century cradle,  309  ;  upholstered 
settee,  202,  203  ;  thousand-legged  table, 
222 

Pilgrim  Society,  description  and  cut  of 
chest  owned  by,  22 

Pitkin,  Mr.  Albert  H.,  descriptions  and 
cuts  of  furniture  owned  by :  chair : 
roundabout,  159  ;  Windsor,  i6g  ;  mirror: 
filigree  gilt,  290 ;  mantel,  298,  299 ; 
scrutoir,  low  block-front,  272,  276 

Pollen,  W.  H.,  quoted,  196;  on  Flemish 
furniture,  20    ■ 

Press  cupboards,  85  ;  description  and  cuts 
of,  86,  87 

"  Putnam  cupboard,"  description  and  cut 
of,  93 

Q 

Queen  Anne,  chair,  description  and  cut  of, 
151,  157-165  ;   urns  on  mirror,  287 

R 

Raleigh,     Sir     Walter,     introduction     of 

mahogany  into  England  by,  76 
Rocking-chairs,  how  to  distinguish  genuine, 

169,  170 
Rococo,  mirror  designs  in  French,  289 
Room-panelling,  first  English  use  of,  13 
Rosettes,  enamel  and  brass  mirror,  299 
Roundabout  chair,  156,  157  ;  Dutch,  160  ; 

Mr.  Pitkin's,  160 
Rush-bottom  couch,  208 


Satinwood  low  chest  of  drawers,  74 

Schutz,  Mr.  W.  S.,  block-front  bureau  in 
collection  of,  71 

Scroll  design,  15 

Scroll-top  high  chest  of  drawers,  descrip- 
tion and  cut  of,  60,  61 

Scrutoirs,  descriptions  and  cuts  of,  253— 
280  :  ball-foot,  255  ;  block-front  cabinet- 
lop,  271-273;  cabinet-top,  264-267; 
cabriole-legged,  258,  259;  early,  254; 
fire-screen,  276,  277;  low  block-front, 
272-276  ;  marquetry  Empire  with  book- 
case top,  279;    secret  drawers  in,  269, 


351 


INDEX 


270;  serpentine-front  slant-top,  275, 
276;  slant-top,  254-257,  261;  Shera- 
ton scrutoir,  278 

Serpentine  bureau,  71 

Settles,  196-205 

Shearer,  Thomas,  originator  of  colonial 
sideboard,  1 1  2 

Shearer  sideboard,  113 

Sheraton,  Thomas,  sketch  of,  1 1 

Sheraton  furniture,  descriptions  and  cuts 
of:  bureau,  74;  card-table,  239,  241; 
chairs,  11,  113,  189,  205;  chest  of 
drawers,  75,  76  ;  settee,  206  ;  sideboard, 
1 16-1 18;  sofa,  213;  to  distinguish, 
172;     wash-stand,    108;     writing-table, 

277 
Ship-chests,  14 
Sideboards,   108-122:    Empire,  118-122; 

first,  4 ;  Hepplewhite,  1 1,  1 13,  1 1 5,  1 1 7  ; 

historical   sketch    of,    108,    109;    New 

England,  122;  Shearer,  113,  115,  117; 

Sheraton,  1 16 
Sideboard-tables,  1 1 1 
Side-wall  buffet,  108 
Slant-top  scrutoirs,  two  styles  of,  254,  257, 

261,  268-270 
Slat-back   chair,  153-155;   Southern   type 

of,  154 
Smith,    Helen   Evertson,  quoted  on  Peter 

Stuyvesant's  bed,  307 
Smith,  Mr.  Robert  T.,  chest  with  drawer 

in  collection  of,  19;  Flemish  chair,  140 
Snakewood,   Hosmer   cupboard   veneered 

with,  94 
Sofas,  210-215:    Chippendale,  211;    Em- 
pire, 213-215;  Sheraton,  213 
Sofa-table,  246 
Sommerlad,  Mr.  Casper,  French  bedstead 

owned    by,    320;     scrutoir,    marquetry 

Empire,  282 
Spanish  mahogany,  79;  chairs,  139,  146- 

15°:  '5' 
Spencer,   J.   C,  mantel-clock    owned    by, 

343.  344 
Stools,  definition  and  earliest  mention  of, 

127,  128 
Swell-front  bureau,  73 


Table-carpets,  218 

Tables,  descriptions  and  cuts  of,  216-245  ■ 
butterfly,  224;  card,  234—239;  chair, 
221;  drawing,  217;  Empire  pillar-and- 
claw,  245  ;  extension,  first,  3  ;  marble-top, 
III;  pie-crust,  232,  233  ;  sideboard,  1 1 1  ; 
slate-top,  226  ;  sofa,  246  ;  tea,  229,  230  ; 
tea-tray,  234;   thousand-legged,  223 

Tea-tables,  first  mention  of,  229;  cuts  of, 
231 

Thousand-legged  tables,  cuts  of,  222,  223 

Torr,  Mrs.  Charles  Clarence,  girandole 
owned  by,  295 

Trinity  College,  leather  chair  owned  by,  135 

Turkey  work,  chair-coverings  of,  137,  138 

Turned  chairs,  127,  130 

U 

Upholstered  chair,  introduced  from  Ven- 
ice, 2 

Upholstery,  introduced  from  Venice,  2 ; 
in  Chippendale  chairs,  183 

V 

Van  Cortlandt  Manor,  Flemish  chair  at. 
143;  clock  at,  322,  334 

\'an  Rensselaer,  Dom  Nicolas,  old  in- 
ventory of,  40 

Von  Falke,  Dr.,  quoted  on  German  origin 
of  w'ainscot  cupboards,  95,  96 

W 

W'ainscot  cupboards,  German  origin  of,  95  ; 
chairs,  1 31-134 

Walnut,  used  in  Dutch  chests,  18 

Wash-stand,  Hepplewhite,  Sheraton,  108 

Watkinson,  Mrs.  E.  B.,  Hepplewhite  mir- 
ror owned  by,  292 

Wight,  Dr.  J.  Sherman,  Queen  Anne  dou- 
ble chair  owned  by,  201,  202 

Willard  clock,  341,  342 

Windsor  chairs,  152,  164,  170 

^\■riting-chair,  author's  Windsor,  167,  168 

Writing-table,  Sheraton,  278 


X 


X-braced  table,  225 


/ 


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